NetBackup Vault Administrator’s Guide - Veritas · 2016. 7. 19. · 12308354 Veritas NetBackup...

12308354

Veritas NetBackup Vault™

Administrator’s Guide

UNIX, Windows, and Linux

Release 6.5

Veritas NetBackup VaultAdministrator’s Guide

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Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction to Vault

Vault uses NetBackup functions ........................................................................13

How to access NetBackup Vault ........................................................................14

Vault original or duplicate images? ..................................................................15

The Vault process ................................................................................................15

Choose backup images ................................................................................16

Duplicate backup images ............................................................................16

Back up the NetBackup catalog ..................................................................16

Eject media ....................................................................................................17

Generate reports ..........................................................................................17

How Vault uses volume groups and pools .......................................................17

NetBackup and Vault configuration .................................................................18

Vault management procedures ..........................................................................18

Chapter 2 Installing Vault

Supported systems ..............................................................................................21

Supported robots .................................................................................................21

Upgrading to NetBackup Vault 6.5 ...................................................................22

The upgrade conversion process ...............................................................22

Configuration elements that are converted from pre-6.0 vault configuration

24

Your responsibilities after a successful upgrade ....................................26

UNIX and Linux systems ....................................................................................27

Installation prerequisites for UNIX and Linux systems ........................27

Installing NetBackup Vault on UNIX and Linux systems ......................27

Upgrading NetBackup Vault on UNIX and Linux systems ....................29

Uninstalling NetBackup Vault from UNIX and Linux systems ............31

Microsoft Windows systems ..............................................................................34

Licensing prerequisites for a Windows system .......................................34

Licensing NetBackup Vault on a Windows system .................................34

Upgrading NetBackup Vault on a Windows system ...............................35

Uninstalling NetBackup Vault from a Windows system .......................35

Upgrading from bpvault 3.4 ...............................................................................36

Chapter 3 Best practices

6

Vaulting paradigm ............................................................................................... 37

Preferred vaulting strategies ............................................................................. 38

Vault original backups ................................................................................ 39

Use disk staging ........................................................................................... 39

Ensure all data is vaulted ................................................................................... 40

Overlap the time window in the profile ................................................... 40

Resolve multiple names for a single server ............................................. 41

Specify robotic volume group when configuring a Vault ...................... 41

Do not Vault more than you need to ................................................................. 42

Send only the intended backups off-site .................................................. 42

Avoid vaulting partial images .................................................................... 42

Vaulting original backups in a 24x7 environment ................................. 43

Preparing for efficient recovery ........................................................................ 44

Vault NetBackup catalogs .......................................................................... 44

Use precise naming conventions for volume pools and groups ........... 45

Match volume pools to data usage ............................................................ 45

Designate a primary copy and keep it on site ......................................... 45

Suspend vaulted media ............................................................................... 46

Revault unexpired media ............................................................................ 47

Media ejection recommendations ..................................................................... 47

Avoid resource contention during duplication ............................................... 47

When two processes try to use the same drive ....................................... 47

When the read drive is not in the Vault robot ........................................ 51

Sharing resources with backup jobs ......................................................... 51

Load balancing ............................................................................................. 52

Specify different volume pools for source and destination .................. 53

Use a separate volume pool for each Vault ............................................. 53

Avoid sending duplicates over the network .................................................... 53

Create originals concurrently .................................................................... 53

Use alternate read server ........................................................................... 54

Use advanced duplication configuration ................................................. 55

Use Storage units that specify a media server ........................................ 56

Increase duplication throughput ...................................................................... 56

Configuring for multiple-drives: Basics ................................................... 56

Multiple-drive scenario: Does not send data over network .................. 57

Maximize drive utilization during duplication ............................................... 58

Use scratch volume pools ................................................................................... 59

Ensure report integrity ....................................................................................... 59

Organizing reports by robot ...................................................................... 59

Organizing reports by Vault ...................................................................... 60

Organizing reports by profile .................................................................... 60

Consequences of sharing an off-site volume group across multiple robots

60

7

Generate the lost media report regularly ........................................................60

Chapter 4 Configuring NetBackup for Vault

Off-site volume pools ..........................................................................................63

Creating a volume pool ...............................................................................64

Catalog backup schedules for Vault ..................................................................65

Creating a Vault catalog backup schedule ...............................................65

Master server properties for Vault ...................................................................69

Setting the maximum number of Vault jobs ............................................69

Chapter 5 Configuring Vault

Information required to configure Vault .........................................................71

Master server, media servers, and storage units ....................................72

Robot information .......................................................................................73

Methods of configuration ...................................................................................73

Configuring Vault management properties .....................................................74

Vault Management Properties General tab .............................................74

Alternate media server names tab ............................................................76

Retention mappings tab ..............................................................................79

Reports tab ....................................................................................................80

Configuring robots for Vault ..............................................................................82

Vault robot dialog box .................................................................................82

Creating a Vault ...................................................................................................83

Requirements for creating a Vault ............................................................83

How to create a Vault ..................................................................................84

Vault dialog box ............................................................................................84

Creating a profile .................................................................................................88

Profile dialog box .........................................................................................89

The number of profiles required ...............................................................89

How to create a profile ................................................................................90

Configuring a profile ...........................................................................................90

Choose backups tab ......................................................................................92

Duplication tab .............................................................................................98

Catalog backup tab .....................................................................................114

Eject tab .......................................................................................................118

Reports tab ..................................................................................................124

Chapter 6 Vaulting and managing media

Running a Vault session ...................................................................................130

Scheduling a Vault session .......................................................................130

Running a session manually ....................................................................133

Running multiple sessions simultaneously ...........................................134

8

Previewing a Vault session ...............................................................................135

Stopping a Vault session ..................................................................................135

Resuming a Vault session .................................................................................136

Monitoring a Vault session ..............................................................................136

Detailed Vault job status ...........................................................................138

Extended error codes ................................................................................138

The list of images to be vaulted .......................................................................138

Duplication exclusions ..............................................................................139

Ejection exclusions ....................................................................................140

Vault resiliency ..........................................................................................140

Ejecting media ....................................................................................................140

Previewing media to be ejected ...............................................................141

Ejecting media by using the NetBackup Administration Console ......142

Ejecting media by using the Vault operator menu ...............................143

Ejecting media by using the vlteject command .....................................144

Ejecting media by using a Vault policy ...................................................145

Consolidating ejects ..................................................................................146

Injecting media ..................................................................................................146

Injecting media by using the NetBackup Administration Console ....148

Injecting media by using the Vault operator menu ..............................149

Injecting media by using the vltinject command ..................................149

Using containers ................................................................................................150

Vaulting media in containers ...................................................................151

Managing containers and media .............................................................153

Reporting on containers and media ........................................................155

Assigning multiple retentions with one profile ............................................156

Vaulting additional volumes ............................................................................158

Duplicating a volume manually ...............................................................159

Duplicating a volume by using Vault ......................................................160

Revaulting unexpired media ............................................................................160

Tracking volumes not ejected by Vault ..........................................................162

Vaulting VSM media .........................................................................................163

Vaulting media not created by NetBackup ....................................................165

Notifying a tape operator when eject begins .................................................166

Using notify scripts ...........................................................................................166

Notify script for a specific robot .............................................................167

Notify script for a specific Vault .............................................................168

Notify script for a specific profile ...........................................................168

Order of execution .....................................................................................168

Clearing the media description field ..............................................................168

Deassigning vaulted NetBackup catalog media ............................................169

Restoring data from vaulted media ................................................................170

Replacing damaged media ................................................................................171

9

Chapter 7 Creating originals or copies concurrently

Understanding concurrent copies ...................................................................177

Continue or fail for concurrent copies ...........................................................178

Continue copies ..........................................................................................179

Fail all copies ..............................................................................................179

Creating original images concurrently ...........................................................180

Creating duplicate images concurrently ........................................................181

When duplication is possible ...................................................................182

Concurrent copies through the catalog node ........................................183

Concurrent copies during basic duplication ..........................................185

Concurrent copies during advanced duplication ..................................189

Chapter 8 Reporting

Generating reports ............................................................................................195

Generating reports by using the Vault operator menu ........................196

Generating reports by using the vlteject command .............................196

Generating reports by using a Vault policy ...........................................197

Consolidating reports ........................................................................................198

Viewing reports ..................................................................................................200

Vault report types ..............................................................................................201

Reports for media going off-site ..............................................................201

Reports for media coming on-site ...........................................................205

Inventory reports .......................................................................................208

Container inventory report ......................................................................211

Recovery Report for Vault ........................................................................212

Lost Media report .......................................................................................213

Non-vaulted Images Exception report ....................................................214

Iron mountain FTP file ..............................................................................215

Chapter 9 Administering Vault

Setting up E-mail ...............................................................................................217

Administering access to Vault .........................................................................218

Vault Operator user group ........................................................................218

Printing Vault and profile information ..........................................................220

Copying a profile ................................................................................................220

Moving a Vault to a different robot ................................................................221

Changing volume pools and groups ................................................................221

Vault session log files ........................................................................................222

Session logs .................................................................................................222

Setting the duration of Vault session files .............................................223

General operational issues ...............................................................................224

Vaulting Storage migrator files ...............................................................224

10

Disk only source of backups .....................................................................224

The scope of the source volume group ...................................................224

Chapter 10 Using the menu user interfaces

Using the Vault administration interface ......................................................225

Using the Vault operator menu interface ......................................................226

Changes in vmadm for Vault ...........................................................................227

Additions to volume configuration .........................................................228

Changes to the special actions menu ......................................................228

Changes to display options ......................................................................230

Changes in bpdbjobs for Vault .........................................................................231

Chapter 11 Troubleshooting

Printing problems ..............................................................................................233

Errors returned by the Vault session .............................................................234

No media are ejected .........................................................................................234

Media is missing in robot .................................................................................234

Bad or missing duplicate tape ..........................................................................235

Tape drive or robot offline ...............................................................................236

No duplicate progress message .......................................................................236

Need to Stop Bpvault .........................................................................................237

Ejecting tapes while in use ...............................................................................237

Tapes not removed from the MAP ..................................................................238

Unexpired tapes were injected into the robot ...............................................238

Debug logs ...........................................................................................................238

Setting the duration and level of logs ....................................................239

Logs to accompany problem reports ......................................................240

Appendix A Recovering from disasters

Introduction .......................................................................................................241

Definition of disaster ................................................................................242

Definition of disaster recovery ................................................................242

Definition of disaster recovery plan .......................................................243

Recovery priorities ....................................................................................243

Developing a disaster recovery plan .......................................................244

Testing a disaster recovery plan .............................................................245

Disaster recovery in the NetBackup Vault context ......................................245

Preparing for recovery ......................................................................................246

Recovering NetBackup ......................................................................................248

Recovering data .................................................................................................248

Recovering to a specific point in time ............................................................250

11

Appendix B Vault’s file and directory structure

UNIX files and directories ................................................................................253

Windows files and directories ..........................................................................257

Index 263

Chapter 1

Introduction to Vault

Vault is an extension to NetBackup that automates selection and duplication of

backup images and ejection of media for transfer to and from a separate, off-site

storage facility. NetBackup Vault also generates reports to track the location

and content of the media. Vault functionality does not have to be used only for

disaster recovery; you can use Vault to manage data and media that you store

off-site for regulatory archival purposes.

For more information, see the following:

■ “Vault uses NetBackup functions” on page 13

■ “How to access NetBackup Vault” on page 14

■ “Vault original or duplicate images?” on page 15

■ “The Vault process” on page 15

■ “How Vault uses volume groups and pools” on page 17

■ “NetBackup and Vault configuration” on page 18

■ “Vault management procedures” on page 18

Vault uses NetBackup functionsNetBackup Vault uses existing NetBackup functions for all operations, such as

duplication of images, media control, reporting, and ejecting and injecting of

tapes. Information from Vault is integrated with other NetBackup components

and appears in the NetBackup Activity Monitor.

NetBackup Vault interacts with the following NetBackup services and catalogs:

■ Media Manager manages robots and media.

■ The NetBackup catalog and the Media Manager database record which

images have been vaulted.

14 Introduction to Vault

How to access NetBackup Vault

■ The Media Manager database information determines when expired media

can be returned to the robot for reuse.

■ The Activity Monitor displays the status of the Vault job.

The following diagram shows the NetBackup, Media Manager, and Vault

relationships:

Figure 1-1 Services interaction diagram

How to access NetBackup VaultNetBackup Vault is installed on a NetBackup master server. If you added the

appropriate license key during the installation of Vault or by using the Help >

License Keys option of the NetBackup Administration Console, Vault

Management will be a node of the Administration Console. You can use the

Administration Console to configure and manage Vault.

Alternatively, you can manage Vault by using the following methods:

■ Menu-based user interfaces.

Vault* Chooses images to vault

* Requests duplication; monitors duplication* Assigns media to vault slot or container* Requests media eject* Maintains OS level file security* Requests return of expired media from the vault* Requests catalog backup

Media Manager* Manages robotic devices and

volumes

NetBackupBackup/Restore Services* Duplicates images* Tracks images on media

Vault Reports* Pick list of media ejected from robot* Pick list of expired media in the vault* Inventory reports* Recovery report

* Tracks volume location* Ejects and injects media

Activity Monitor* Monitors all services

* Duplicates catalog

15Introduction to Vault

Vault original or duplicate images?

■ Command line utilities.

Vault original or duplicate images?One of your most important choices is whether to send original or duplicate

images off site. If you send original images off site, you do not have to duplicate

images and therefore do not have to configure duplication. Vault distinguishes

between original images and duplicate images as follows:

■ Original images are created by NetBackup during a backup job, including all

copies created concurrently by a backup policy. NetBackup can create up to

four copies of an image concurrently during the backup process; all are

considered originals.

If you create multiple original backups in a NetBackup policy job, you

should assign the first original (the primary copy) to the volume pool for

media that remains on site and send a copy off site.

■ Duplicate images are copies created by Vault. A Vault job reads the primary

backup image and writes one or more duplicate images concurrently; the

Vault job is separate from the NetBackup policy job.

The Vault processVaulting is the process of sending backup images off site to a protected storage

location. For more information about the specific steps in a Vault process, see

the following, which briefly describes a basic Vault process:

■ Choose backup images

■ Duplicate backup images

■ Back up the NetBackup catalog

■ Eject media

■ Generate reports

A Vault job must select images (Choose Backups). The other steps are optional so

you can separate the Vault tasks into separate jobs if desired, using different

jobs to accomplish different tasks. For example, you can use one job to select and

duplicate images daily, and another job to eject media and generate reports

weekly.

Injecting returned media back into the robot is a manual operation. The Vault

reports include the media that should be recalled from the off-site location and

injected into the robot.


The Vault process

The term vault also refers both to a logical entity associated with a particular

robot and to the off-site storage location of a set of tapes.

Choose backup imagesThe first step of the Vault process is choosing the backup images that are

candidates to be transferred off site. This step, known as image selection, must

be configured for every Vault job. Vault uses the criteria in a Vault profile (a set

of rules for selecting images, duplicating images, and ejecting media) to

determine which backup images are candidates to send off site.

If you create multiple original images concurrently during a backup job, Vault

can send original images off site (depending on the profile rules). If you

duplicate images, Vault uses the primary backup image as the source image for

the duplication operation (exception: to improve performance, Vault will

duplicate from a nonprimary copy on disk if one exists).

Duplicate backup imagesThe second step of the Vault process is duplicating the backup images that are

candidates to be transferred off site. This step, known as image duplication,

writes copies of backup images on media that you can eject and transfer off site.

Image duplication is optional. If you send your only backup image off site or

create multiple original backup images and send one or more of those off site,

you do not have to duplicate images in Vault and therefore do not have to

configure the duplication step. However, that original image must be written to

media in the off-site volume pool so it will be ejected and transferred off site.

Back up the NetBackup catalogThe third step of the Vault process is backing up the NetBackup catalog. The

NetBackup catalog consists of databases of information about the NetBackup

configuration and any backups that have been performed. The information

about backups includes records of the files and the media on which the files are

stored, including information about media sent off-site. The catalogs also have

information about the media and storage devices that are under the control of

Media Manager.

Backing up the catalog is optional. However, vaulting a catalog backup with your

data can help you recover from a disaster more efficiently. Vault creates its own

catalog backup with up-to-date information; Vault does not duplicate the

NetBackup catalog.


How Vault uses volume groups and pools

Eject mediaThe fourth step of the Vault process is ejecting the media that you then transfer

to secure storage, often at a separate facility. Media that are ejected are tracked

by Vault reporting facilities and will be recalled from off-site storage for reuse

after the images expire. Media can be ejected automatically by a scheduled Vault

job or manually after the job has completed. Media can be ejected for each job

individually or can be consolidated into a single eject operation for multiple

Vault jobs.

Generate reportsThe fifth step of the Vault process is generating reports. Reports track the media

managed by Vault. You and your off-site storage vendor can use the reports to

determine which media should be moved between your site and the off-site

storage location and the timing of the moves.

Reports can be generated as part of the Vault job or manually after the job is

finished. Reports can be generated for each job individually or can be

consolidated with a consolidated eject operation. Generating reports is optional.

How Vault uses volume groups and poolsVolume groups identify where volumes reside. They are used as a tracking

mechanism by Vault to determine where a volume is located. Volumes in a

robotic volume group reside in a robot. During a Vault job, Vault searches the

robotic volume group for media that matches a profile’s criteria; if media are

found, Vault ejects that media and then moves it logically to an off-site volume

group. (A logical move means to change the volume attributes to show the new

location.) When a volume in off-site storage expires and is injected back into the

robot, Vault moves it back into the robotic volume group.

Volume pools identify logical sets of volumes by usage. They are used by Vault

to determine if a volume should be ejected. Volume pools for images to be

transferred off site are known as off-site volume pools. When you create the

images that you want to send off site, write them to media in an off-site volume

pool. During a Vault job, Vault searches a robot for images that match the

selection criteria; if the media the images reside on are in an off-site volume

pool, Vault ejects that media.


NetBackup and Vault configuration

NetBackup and Vault configurationBefore you can begin to use Vault, you must first set up and configure

NetBackup so that volume pools and policies are available to support Vault

operations.

See “Configuring NetBackup for Vault” on page 63.

After configuring NetBackup for use with Vault, you must configure Vault

robots and profiles.

See “Configuring Vault” on page 71.

Read the information in the best practices section. It can help you determine

how to setup and configure Vault most effectively for your environment,

resources, requirements, service level agreements, and so on.

See “Best practices” on page 37.

Vault management proceduresThe following table summarizes operational procedures for Vault. The

NetBackup Vault Operator’s Guide provides more detailed information on

day-to-day procedures.

Table 1-1 Vault management procedures

Operational Procedure Staff Responsibilities

Configuration: review backup procedures and determine

duplication capacity needed.

Determine appropriate servers to run duplications and

determine appropriate time windows for running

duplication.

Configure Vault profiles.

Review duplication windows for performance and

throughput.

Determine the need for basic levels of duplication

service on a per policy basis.

Ensure sufficient hardware, software, and network

capacity is available for duplication of backup images.

Choosing Backups: Vault incorporates two new criteria

when choosing a backup for vaulting.

.

Duplication: set up Vault policies to run vault sessions on

a schedule.

Monitor jobs to ensure they start when scheduled.

Determine media requirements and setup initial volume

pool for duplication.

Monitor volume pool usage.

Ensure sufficient media are available for duplicates to

run.


Vault management procedures

Monitoring: use the NetBackup Activity Monitor to

determine progress.

Set up links between log files and monitoring system for

e-mail and/or paging notification.

Ensure duplication jobs complete successfully.

Ensure errors are reported to appropriate personnel.

Vault reports: generate reports regularly to ensure that

images are duplicated correctly.

Compare report output with ejected and returned media.

Review production duplication cycle for

thoroughness.

Ensure media going off-site and returning on-site

matches reports.

Check duplication volume pools and catalog backup pools

for available media.

Ensure sufficient media available for duplication.

Use Media Manager to expire/freeze tapes manually when

needed for retrieval from the vault.

Recall media that was not recalled during normal

Vault operations.

Backup the catalog: set up a schedule for Vault backup of

image catalog.

Ensure media available to store catalog.

Ensure Vault catalog backup occurs.

Duplication capacity review: determine capacity planning

cycle, including reaction time, costing factors, and new

requirements.

Assist production support to help determine system,

robotic, and network utilization rates (for example,

disk capacity).

Assist in defining requirements for the system

infrastructure to use Vault effectively with other

computing environment resources.

Recovery review: test recovery procedures regularly to

ensure recovery of essential data from off-site storage.

Know procedures for restoring duplicated images.

Know how to restore database catalog, backup

software, and so on in case of disaster on Netbackup

server(s).

Table 1-1 Vault management procedures (continued)

Operational Procedure Staff Responsibilities


Vault management procedures

Chapter 2

Installing Vault

This chapter outlines the steps required to install NetBackup Vault on both

UNIX and Windows systems. The following topics are covered:

■ “Supported systems” on page 21

■ “Supported robots” on page 21

■ “Upgrading to NetBackup Vault 6.5” on page 22

■ “UNIX and Linux systems” on page 27

■ “Microsoft Windows systems” on page 34

■ “Upgrading from bpvault 3.4” on page 36

Supported systemsVault runs on the same operating systems and versions and in the same

clustering environments as NetBackup except as noted in the NetBackup Release

Notes. NetBackup restrictions and limitations related to systems, clusters, and

peripherals also apply to Vault. Exception: Vault does not support standalone

drives.

For information about supported systems and supported upgrade paths, see the

NetBackup Release Notes.

Supported robotsVault supports all Media Manager-supported robot types except optical disk

library (ODL) robots.

Vault also supports robots that do not have media access ports and barcode

readers. For best performance and to avoid user errors when entering media IDs,

Symantec recommends that you use robots that have media access ports and

barcode readers.

22 Installing Vault

Upgrading to NetBackup Vault 6.5

For information about how to use Vault with robots that do not have media

access ports, see “Media ejection overview” on page 119.

Upgrading to NetBackup Vault 6.5Changes in NetBackup and Vault beginning with the 6.5 release require

corresponding changes to the Vault configuration during the upgrade process.

Most of the changes are required only if upgrading from pre-6.0 vault

configuration.

For more information about the new features and capabilities mentioned in this

upgrade information, see the NetBackup Release Notes or the appropriate

sections in this administrator’s guide.

The upgrade conversion processThe Vault configuration is converted to the 6.5 format when the new NetBackup

Vault Manager (nbvault) is first invoked at the end of an upgrade installation

of NetBackup (on Windows) or Vault (UNIX and Linux).

The upgrade conversion process first creates a saved version of the existing

Vault configuration file:

■ UNIX

/usr/openv/netbackup/db/vault/vault.xml.save. YYYMMDD-HHMMSS

■ Windows

install_path\db\vault\vault.xml.save. YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS

It then converts/upgrades the Vault configuration file:

■ UNIX

/usr/openv/netbackup/db/vault/vault.xml

■ Windows

install_path\db\vault\vault.xml

Upgrade conversion log

The Vault upgrade conversion process writes messages of all of its activity in a

log file with the following name (YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS is the timestamp of the

upgrade):

■ UNIX

/usr/openv/netbackup/db/vault/nbvault-upgrade.log. YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS

■ Windows

install_path\db\vault\nbvault-upgrade.log. YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS

23Installing Vault


The information written to the upgrade log file does not depend on any of the

NetBackup or Vault log level settings.

Successful conversion

If the upgrade conversion succeeded, the existing vault configuration file is

converted to the 6.5 format and nbvault starts in service/daemon mode. You

can confirm this by reading the upgrade log file, in which you can see the result

of the upgrade.

You must read the upgrade log after the installation is completed so that you

understand the changes made in your Vault configuration and what you have to

do after a successful upgrade.

Failed conversion

If the upgrade conversion fails, nbvault does not start in service/daemon

mode, and the existing Vault configuration file remains unchanged. Because the

NetBackup Vault Manager must be running, Vault will not work.

If the conversion fails, do the following:

1 Read the upgrade log file to determine the details of the failure.

If the upgrade log file does not exist, nbvault failed even before

attempting to upgrade the vault configuration file. In that case, read the

event log (on Windows) or system log (on UNIX or Linux) for more details.

2 Based on the information in the log file, take corrective action.

3 Start the nbvault service/daemon manually.

nbvault attempts to upgrade the Vault configuration file. For every

upgrade attempt, nbvault creates a new upgrade log file.

If the upgrade fails again, nbvault will not start in service/daemon mode.

Repeat the preceding steps to resolve the reason for failure.

Upgrade information also is written to the nbvault log (see “Debug logs” on

page 238) but it depends on the existence of the log directory and the log level

settings of Vault.

Note: On Windows systems, the nbvault service only starts automatically if you

have a combined license key for both NetBackup and Vault. If you have a

separate Vault license key, you must add the Vault license key and then start the

nbvault service manually; nbvault then attempts to upgrade the Vault

configuration. (This note does not apply to UNIX or Linux systems.)

24 Installing Vault


Configuration elements that are converted from pre-6.0 vault configuration

Most of the upgrade conversion changes are required for the new catalog backup

method. Vault uses the hot, online catalog backup method for catalog backups.

This method requires a catalog backup policy (NBU-Catalog) that has a Vault

Catalog Backup schedule.

Note: A NetBackup 6.0 Vault configuration requires only some formatting

changes to upgrade it to NetBackup 6.5.

Following are the changes made to the Vault configuration file:

■ Retention mappings. All retention mapping information (from files such as

retention_mappings and retention_mappings.vault_name) are

added to the Vault configuration file. The existing retention mapping files

are obsolete and are renamed to:

retention_mappings.save.YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS and

retention_mappings.vault_name.save.YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS

respectively. You can remove them later.

■ Report distribution. Report distribution values in each profile are

propagated to each individual report in that profile. The new report

distribution values at the Vault Management Properties level are set to

blank. In previous releases, report distribution was configured at the profile

level only.

■ Eject notification e-mail addresses. The new eject notification values are set

as follows:

■ Blank at the Vault Management Properties level.

■ At the robot level (Vault Robot dialog box), they will be set to use the

values from Vault Management Properties level.

■ At the profile level, they will be set to use the values from Robot or

Vault Management Properties level.

■ Catalog backup. The following are the changes to the Vault configuration for

the new catalog backup method:

■ All of the existing two-phase catalog backup policies will be removed.

Vault no longer supports the legacy catalog backup methods, regular

(one volume only) and two-phase. The upgrade log file will contain a list

all of the existing two-phase catalog policies and warn that they will be

ignored after the upgrade.

■ All existing user-specified catalog paths will be removed. You can no

longer specify catalog paths or extra paths to include in the catalog

25Installing Vault


backup. Paths to all files required for a catalog backup are part of the

new catalog backup implementation, and they are backed up

automatically. The upgrade log file will contain a list all of the existing

user-specified catalog paths used in profiles and warn that they will be

ignored after the upgrade. Note that the Vault catalog backup does not

include data from critical policies that are in the catalog backup policy.

■ A new catalog backup policy (of type NBU-Catalog) with a unique name

(such as VltCat-Backup-0) will be created with default values. Every

profile that has a catalog backup step configured will be converted to

use this policy to back up the catalog.

■ For every vault that has at least one profile with the catalog backup

step enabled, a new volume pool (marked for catalog backup) will be

created with a unique name (such as VltCat-MyVault-0, where MyVault

is the vault name). The profiles will be converted to use volumes from

these new pools to back up the catalog. Note: The upgrade process does

not move any media to these volume pools; you must add media to them

before running Vault sessions after the upgrade.

After the upgrade, profiles will not use the catalog volume pools that

they used before the upgrade. However, the existing volume pools will

be added to the list of off-site volume pools in the eject step (if they are

not already added) so that volumes in these pools that are already

off-site will be recalled when they expire.

■ For every profile that has a catalog backup step configured, a new Vault

Catalog Backup schedule will be created that has the following

attributes (or an existing schedule will be used if one matches the

following attributes):

■ The storage unit will be the first storage unit that the upgrade

process finds on the media server used by the existing profile’s

catalog backup.

■ The volume pool will be the new catalog volume pool created for

that vault’s catalog backup.

■ The existing retention period (which is specified in number of

days) will be converted to a matching retention level.

Therefore, for every unique combination of storage unit, newly created

volume pool, and converted retention level, a new Vault Catalog

Backup schedule will be created with a unique name (such as

VltCat-MyVault-0-SCHED-0, where VltCat-MyVault-0 is the newly

created catalog backup volume pool). The new schedules will be created

in the newly created catalog backup policy (VltCat-Backup-0).

■ After the upgrade succeeds, all the existing values (such as media

server, volume pool, and so on) from the catalog backup step of profiles

26 Installing Vault


that perform catalog backup will be removed from the Vault

configuration file and will be replaced by the new catalog backup policy

and the new Vault Catalog Backup schedules.

■ Eject. For every profile that has catalog backup configured, the new catalog

backup volume pool (used in the Vault Catalog Backup schedule) will be

added to the list of off-site volume pools in the profile’s eject step. (As noted

earlier, you must add media to these new volume pools.) Also, existing

volume pools specified in the catalog backup step will be added to the list of

off-site volume pools in the eject step (if they are not already added) so that

volumes in these pools that are already off-site will be recalled when they

expire. After all pre-6.5 catalog backup volumes are recalled, you can remove

these volume pools from the list of off-site volume pools if you use these

volume pools only for catalog backup in Vault.

■ Miscellaneous. Other, miscellaneous changes will be made in the vault

configuration file to upgrade it to the 6.5 format. Read the upgrade log file to

understand them.

Your responsibilities after a successful upgradeYou must read each and every statement written to the upgrade log file before

you start using the upgraded Vault configuration. Especially consider the

following:

■ Note which configuration items are not supported or are ignored in 6.5, such

as the previous catalog (or extra) paths in the Vault catalog backups and the

two-phase catalog policies that are removed from the catalog backup steps

of the modified profiles.

■ Note the new volume pools (of type Catalog Backup), catalog backup

policies, and Vault Catalog Backup schedules that are created and how the

upgraded Vault profiles use them.

■ Note the retention levels of the new catalog backup schedules. The upgrade

conversion script assigns a retention level that is closest to the retention

period of the original catalog backup step; therefore, the new retention level

may not exactly match the original retention period. If it does not match,

you can redefine a retention level in NetBackup so it matches the original

retention period, and then change the new catalog backup schedule so it

uses the redefined retention level.

You also must add volumes to the newly created volume pools (of type Catalog

Backup) so the converted profiles can use them to perform catalog backups.

27Installing Vault

UNIX and Linux systems

UNIX and Linux systemsYou can install and uninstall NetBackup Vault on UNIX and Linux systems.

Installation prerequisites for UNIX and Linux systems

■ You must install a NetBackup master server on the UNIX or Linux system.

■ You cannot install Vault on a NetBackup media server or on a NetBackup

client.

■ You must have a valid NetBackup Vault license key.

Installing NetBackup Vault on UNIX and Linux systemsUse this procedure to do an initial installation on a UNIX or Linux system.

NetBackup must be installed before you can install Vault, and you must install

the same version of Vault as NetBackup. For instructions about installing

NetBackup, see the NetBackup Installation Guide for UNIX and Linux.

If you are upgrading Vault, see “Upgrading NetBackup Vault on UNIX and Linux

systems” on page 29.

If you are installing Vault in a cluster environment, you must install Vault on all

systems in the cluster on which NetBackup master servers are installed.

For information about where the various Vault components are installed, see

“Vault’s file and directory structure” on page 253.

To install NetBackup Vault on a UNIX server

Note: If you are installing Vault in a cluster environment, you must freeze the

active node before you begin the installation process so that migrations do not

occur during installation. For information about freezing a service group, see

the NetBackup High Availability Administrator’s Guide.

1 Log in as the root user on the system on which the NetBackup master server

is installed.

2 Verify that a valid license key for Vault has been registered by executing the

following command to list and add keys:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/get_license_key

3 Insert the CD that contains the Vault software into the CD-ROM drive.

4 Change the working directory to the CD-ROM directory.

cd /cd_rom_directory

28 Installing Vault


Where cd_rom_directory is the path to the directory where you can access

the CD-ROM. On some platforms, you may need to mount this directory. For

instructions on how to mount the directory, see the NetBackup Installation

Guide for UNIX and Linux.

5 Enter the following command:

./install

The Installation Options menu appears.

6 Select the NetBackup Add-On Product Software option.

A menu of NetBackup product options is displayed.

7 Select the NetBackup Vault option.

8 Enter q to quit the menu.

9 When asked if the list is correct, answer y.

The installation process begins. When completed, the Installation Options

menu appears.

10 Enter q to quit the Installation Options menu.

11 In a cluster environment, complete step 1 through step 10 for each node on

which you installed a NetBackup master server.

Note: If you are installing Vault in a cluster environment, unfreeze the active

node after the installation completes. For information about unfreezing a

service group, see the NetBackup High Availability Administrator’s Guide.

12 Start the NetBackup Administration Console by entering the following

command:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/jnbSA&

To complete a new installation, you must configure appropriate NetBackup

attributes for use by Vault and identify which NetBackup policies you want to

use with Vault (or create new ones to use with Vault). Please read the following

chapters so you will develop an understanding of how Vault works and how best

to configure Vault for your operations. You should configure the e-mail address

for notification of session status and enter alternate media server names, if

appropriate. See “Configuring Vault management properties” on page 74.

In a cluster environment, you can configure Vault by using the NetBackup

Administration Console connected through the NetBackup virtual server name,

regardless of which cluster server is currently active.

29Installing Vault


Upgrading NetBackup Vault on UNIX and Linux systemsUse this procedure if you already have Vault installed and are upgrading to a

newer version of Vault. Use one of the following procedures:

■ To upgrade NetBackup Vault on a Solaris system

■ To upgrade NetBackup Vault on a UNIX system other than Solaris

To upgrade NetBackup Vault on a Solaris system

Note: If you are upgrading Vault in a cluster environment, you must freeze the

active node before you begin the upgrade process so that migrations do not

occur during the upgrade. For information about freezing a service group, see


1 Log in as root to the system on which Vault is installed.

2 Execute the following command to uninstall NetBackup Vault:

pkgrm SYMCnbvlt (on NetBackup 6.5 systems and beyond)

Or

pkgrm VRTSnbvlt (on systems that are older than NetBackup 6.5)

A message asking if you want to remove the package is displayed:

Do you want to remove this package?

3 Enter y to remove Vault.

4 If you are prompted with a message about super-user permissions and you

are asked if you want to continue, enter y.

5 Messages that show the progress of the removal process are displayed until

the following message appears:

Are you doing this pkgrm as a step in an upgrade process? [y,n,?,q]

6 Enter y.

The package removal process will remove Vault program components but

not database and log files, so you will not lose your configuration during the

upgrade.

7 Upgrade NetBackup by following the upgrade installation procedures for

NetBackup in the NetBackup Installation Guide for UNIX and Linux.






30 Installing Vault





./install








menu appears.



which Vault is installed.

Note: If you are upgrading Vault in a cluster environment, unfreeze the active

node after upgrading Vault. For information about unfreezing a service group,

see the NetBackup High Availability Administrator’s Guide.


command:


To upgrade NetBackup Vault on a UNIX system other than Solaris

Note: If you are upgrading Vault in a cluster environment, you must freeze the

active node before you begin the upgrade process so that migrations do not

occur during the upgrade. For information about freezing a service group, see



2 Optionally, delete the following files and directories. Although not required,

deleting these items can help ensure that all Vault files installed on the

system are the same revision.

rm /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bpbrmvltrm /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/vlt*rm /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/goodies/vlt*rm -rf /usr/openv/netbackup/help/vltadm

31Installing Vault


3 Upgrade NetBackup by following the upgrade installation procedures for

NetBackup in the NetBackup Installation Guide for UNIX and Linux.









./install








menu appears.



which you are installing a NetBackup master server.

Note: If you are upgrading Vault in a cluster environment, unfreeze the active

node after upgrading Vault. For information about unfreezing a service group,

see the NetBackup High Availability Administrator’s Guide.


command:


In a cluster environment, you should run the NetBackup Administration

Console on the primary node in the cluster when you perform Vault

configuration.

Uninstalling NetBackup Vault from UNIX and Linux systemsThe following instructions describe how to remove Vault permanently from a

UNIX system without uninstalling NetBackup.

32 Installing Vault


Before you uninstall NetBackup Vault, you should delete all Vault-specific items

from NetBackup, such as volume pools, Vault policies, and so on. Although all

Vault program components are removed when Vault is uninstalled,

configuration items related to NetBackup are not.

All Vault components and configuration information are removed during this

procedure. The procedure you should follow depends on whether the UNIX

system runs the Solaris operating system or some other version of the UNIX

operating system.

Use one of the following procedures:

■ To remove NetBackup Vault from a Solaris System

■ To remove NetBackup Vault from a UNIX system

To remove NetBackup Vault from a Solaris system

Caution: This process removes Vault completely, including the Vault database

and log files.

Note: If you are removing Vault in a cluster environment, you must freeze the

active node before you begin removing Vault so that migrations do not occur

during the removal process. For information about freezing a service group, see



2 Execute the following command to uninstall NetBackup Vault:

pkgrm SYMCnbvlt (on NetBackup 6.5 systems and beyond)

Or

pkgrm VRTSnbvlt (on systems that are older than NetBackup 6.5)

A message asking if you want to remove the package is displayed:

Do you want to remove this package?

3 Enter y to remove Vault.

4 If you are prompted with a message about super-user permissions and you

are asked if you want to continue, enter y.

Messages that show the progress of the removal process are displayed until

the following message appears:

Are you doing this pkgrm as a step in an upgrade process? [y,n,?,q]

5 To remove Vault completely and not upgrade to a newer version, enter n.

Messages that ask about removing Vault files will appear.

33Installing Vault


6 Enter y to each prompt to remove the Vault files.



Note: In a cluster environment, unfreeze the active node after removing Vault

from all systems. For information about unfreezing a service group, see the

NetBackup High Availability Administrator’s Guide.

To remove NetBackup Vault from a UNIX system other than Solaris

Caution: This process removes Vault completely, including the Vault database

and log files.

Note: If you are removing Vault in a cluster environment, you must freeze the

active node before you begin removing Vault so that migrations do not occur

during the removal process. For information about freezing a service group, see



2 Remove the following files and directories:

rm /usr/openv/lib/libvaultservice.s?rm /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/bpbrmvltrm /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/nbvaultrm /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/vlt*rm /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/goodies/vlt*rm -rf /usr/openv/netbackup/help/vltadmrm -rf /usr/openv/netbackup/vaultrm /usr/openv/share/version_vault

3 Remove the Vault database directory:

rm -rf /usr/openv/netbackup/db/vault

4 Remove the Vault log directory if it exist:

rm -rf /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/vault



Note: In a cluster environment, unfreeze the active node after removing Vault

from all systems. For information about unfreezing a service group, see the

NetBackup High Availability Administrator’s Guide.

34 Installing Vault

Microsoft Windows systems

Microsoft Windows systemsNetBackup Vault is installed on a Windows system when NetBackup is installed;

no separate installation procedure is required. However, to use Vault, you must

enter a license key:

■ Your license key may be a single key for the base NetBackup product and all

NetBackup add-ons that you are installing, including Vault. If you have

already installed NetBackup and entered the license key, Vault is already

licensed.

■ You may have a separate license key specifically for the Vault option. If so,

you must enter the Vault license key before you can use Vault (see “Licensing

NetBackup Vault on a Windows system” on page 34).

If you are installing and running a Vault in a cluster environment, you must

license Vault on all systems in the cluster on which NetBackup master servers

are installed.

For information about where the various Vault components are installed, see

“Vault’s file and directory structure” on page 253.

Licensing prerequisites for a Windows system

■ A NetBackup master server must be installed and running on the Windows

computer. Vault cannot be installed on a NetBackup media server or on a

NetBackup client.

■ You must have a valid NetBackup Vault license key.

Licensing NetBackup Vault on a Windows systemAlthough NetBackup Vault is installed during NetBackup installation, you

cannot use Vault until you enter the appropriate license key.

Note: If the license key for NetBackup Vault was included in the license key for

the base NetBackup product, you do not have to perform this procedure.

To add the Vault license key

1 From the NetBackup Administration console, choose Help > License Keys.

The NetBackup License Keys dialog box appears.

2 Click New to display the Add a new License Key dialog box.

3 Enter the NetBackup Vault license key.

4 Click Add.

35Installing Vault

Microsoft Windows systems

The license key is displayed in the NetBackup License Keys dialog box.

5 Click Close to close the NetBackup License Keys dialog box.

To complete a new installation, you must configure appropriate NetBackup

attributes for use by Vault and identify which NetBackup policies you want to

use with Vault (or create new ones to use with Vault). Please read the following

chapters so you develop an understanding of how Vault works and how best to

configure Vault for your operations. Be sure to configure an e-mail address for

notification of sessions status and enter alternate media server names, if

appropriate. See “Configuring Vault management properties” on page 74.

Upgrading NetBackup Vault on a Windows systemOn Windows systems, NetBackup Vault is upgraded at the same time NetBackup

is upgraded. Therefore, to upgrade NetBackup Vault, follow the upgrade

installation procedures for NetBackup in the NetBackup Installation Guide for

Windows.

Uninstalling NetBackup Vault from a Windows systemThe NetBackup Vault software is not uninstalled; rather, you deactivate Vault by

deleting the license key from the list of current NetBackup licenses. When the

license key is deleted, NetBackup Vault is no longer available for use. You can

delete the Vault license key only if Vault was licensed with its own license key,

separate from the base NetBackup product license key.

Before you delete the Vault license key, you should remove all Vault-specific

configuration items by using the NetBackup Administration Console to delete

them. Deleting the Vault configuration ensures that NetBackup does not include

anything that was configured for Vault, such as volume pools.

To delete the Vault license key

If you are running BMR in a cluster environment, you must delete the BMR

license key on every system in the cluster on which the BMR master server is

installed.

1 From the NetBackup Administration Console, choose Help > License Keys.

The NetBackup License Keys dialog box is displayed.

2 From the list of keys displayed, select the Vault license key.

36 Installing Vault

Upgrading from bpvault 3.4

Caution: If NetBackup Vault was included as part of the base product key,

performing the following step will delete your base key and you will be unable to

use NetBackup. If you do not want to delete the NetBackup license key, do not

continue.

3 Click Delete.

The Vault license key is deleted from the Current Licenses dialog box, and

Vault Management is no longer displayed in the NetBackup Administration

Console tree.

Upgrading from bpvault 3.4To upgrade from bpvault 3.4 to NetBackup Vault, first upgrade to a NetBackup

Vault 4.5 release and then follow the upgrade path documented in the

NetBackup Release Notes.

Chapter 3

Best practices

Vault can be configured to support how your computing or data center

environment is set up and how it operates. A best practice recommendation that

may provide benefit for one environment may not provide the same benefit for

another. You should evaluate and implement any recommendations based on

the benefit to your environment.


■ “Vaulting paradigm” beginning on page 37

■ “Preferred vaulting strategies” on page 38

■ “Ensure all data is vaulted” on page 40

■ “Do not Vault more than you need to” on page 42

■ “Preparing for efficient recovery” on page 44

■ “Media ejection recommendations” on page 47

■ “Avoid resource contention during duplication” on page 47

■ “Avoid sending duplicates over the network” on page 53

■ “Increase duplication throughput” on page 56

■ “Maximize drive utilization during duplication” on page 58

■ “Use scratch volume pools” on page 59

■ “Ensure report integrity” on page 59

■ “Generate the lost media report regularly” on page 60

Vaulting paradigmHow you set up and name your vaults and profiles depends on your operations.

For example, if you maintain a customer database and a payroll database, you

38 Best practices

Preferred vaulting strategies

may choose to organize your vaults by data usage and your profiles by time

periods, as follows:

Alternatively, if your operations are organized geographically, you can set up

your vaults by location and your profiles by data type, as follows:

Preferred vaulting strategiesSeveral strategies can help you reduce resource and time contention when you

back up your data and when you vault your backup media. Although these

strategies may not be advantageous for all situations, they can be very beneficial

in many environments. Symantec recommends that you use one of the

following:

■ Vault the original NetBackup backup media. Because you can produce

multiple copies of images during a NetBackup policy job, fewer drives and

less time may be required to create multiple original copies than duplicating

media.

■ Use disk staging. Send your backups to disk and then copy the data from

disk to removable media. This strategy reduces the time that the backup

process uses.

Table 3-2 Example of vaults and profiles organized by data type and time

Vaults Profiles

CustomerDB Weekly

Monthly

Payroll Biweekly

Monthly

Yearly

Table 3-3 Example of vaults and profiles organized by location and data type

Vaults Profiles

London CustomerDB

Payroll

Tokyo CustomerDB

Payroll

39Best practices

Preferred vaulting strategies

Vault original backupsFor most situations, Symantec recommends that you use a NetBackup policy to

produce multiple original backup images and then use a Vault profile to eject

and transfer one or more of the original images off site. In most situations,

vaulting originals has the following advantages:

■ Uses less drive time than duplicating backup images from the original tapes.

For example, a backup job that creates two originals of a backup image uses

two drives — two units of drive time. Conversely, a backup job that creates

one original image uses one drive and a vault job that creates one duplicate

of that original uses two drives — three units of drive time. Over time,

duplicating backup images consumes more drive-time than writing multiple

originals during a backup job.

■ Avoids configuring for duplication. In complex environments (such as with

multiple media servers, multiple robots, or multiple retention period

requirements), it can be difficult to configure the duplication steps of Vault

profiles. It is possible to send large amounts of data over the network

without careful configuration, although in storage area network (SAN)

environments network traffic may not be an issue.

If you decide to create and vault original backups, see the following information

before you configure Vault:

■ “Vaulting original backups in a 24x7 environment” on page 43

■ “Avoid vaulting partial images” on page 42

Use disk staging

Note: This topic is about using a disk storage unit as a destination for backup

images, not about using a disk staging storage unit.

Using disk staging for your backup jobs can help avoid resource contention

between backup operations and Vault duplication operations. Disk staging is the

process of first writing the backup images to a disk storage unit during a

NetBackup policy job and then writing the images to removable media during a

Vault job. The following are some of the advantages of disk staging over

tape-to-tape duplication:

■ Shortens backup time. Writing to disk is faster than writing to tape, so less

time is needed for backing up.

■ Minimizes tape drive usage. Sending the original copy to tape then

duplicating to a second tape, requires one drive to make the first copy and

two drives (a read drive and a write drive) to make the second copy.

40 Best practices

Ensure all data is vaulted

■ Reduces expense. Because disk access is fast and disk space is less expensive

than tape drives, it is often advantageous to send your backups to disk.

You can schedule your Vault sessions to duplicate the original disk backup

images to two (or more) media: one on-site volume and one off-site volume. Also,

you can configure the Vault profile to free up the disk space automatically for

the next round of back ups.

Ensure all data is vaultedWhen you are setting up NetBackup Vault, you should be sure that you

configure it to vault all of the information that you want transferred off-site.

Overlap the time window in the profileTo ensure that all data is vaulted, overlap the time window in the profile.

A Vault profile uses a time range as one of the criteria for choosing the backup

images to be vaulted. Vault does not duplicate or eject a backup image that

already has a copy in the Off-site Volume Group; therefore, Vault will not

process images that have already been vaulted by a previous session. Perhaps

more importantly, backups that were not processed if a previous session failed

will be processed when the profile runs again if the time window is long enough.

Therefore, configure the time window to be the sum of the following:

■ The longest expected downtime for a server or robot

■ Twice the length of the frequency at which the profile runs

For example, if you have a profile that duplicates images daily and your longest

expected downtime is three days, you should configure the time window to be at

least five days. If a robot fails and requires three days to repair, the next time the

profile runs it will select backup images that did not get vaulted during the

three-day downtime. Configuring the window to be longer, such as seven days,

provides even more resiliency. A longer time window forces Vault to search a

larger list of images for vault candidates; although that will consume more

processing time, the extra processing time may not be a problem in your

environment because Vault is a batch process that does not demand immediate

system response.

Consequences of not overlapping the time window: Missing data

When a vault session gets delayed, some backup images may be missed if the

time window does not allow Vault to select images from a wider time range. For

example, suppose the time window for your daily profile extends from 1 day ago

41Best practices

Ensure all data is vaulted

to 0 days ago. On Tuesday, the robot has mechanical problems and the Vault

profile fails. Consequently, Monday night’s backups are not vaulted. On

Wednesday, the robot is fixed. When the next Vault session begins on

Wednesday, it will only select backup images that were created during the

previous 24 hours, so Monday night’s backups are still not vaulted. If the

profile’s time window had spanned more than 1 day, the session would have

picked up both Monday night’s and Tuesday night’s backups.

Resolve multiple names for a single server

Note: Alternate media servers apply to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.

For every media server, you should add an entry on the Alternate Media Server

Names tab of the Vault Management Properties dialog box. At a minimum, there

should be, for each media server, an entry that contains both the abbreviated

name and the fully qualified name. Also add any other names by which a media

server has ever been known. Taking this action will avoid a number of problems.

For example, if you do not list alternate names for media servers, some images

may not be recognized as a match for the criteria entered in the Choose Backups

tab of the Profile dialog box and may therefore not get vaulted.

If you have multiple NIC cards in your server, make sure that the server name or

IP address associated with each NIC card is listed in the Alternate Media Server

Names tab when you configure a profile.

For more information, see “Alternate media server names tab” on page 76.

Specify robotic volume group when configuring a VaultVolumes are ejected only if they are in a robotic volume group and in one of the

off-site volume pools specified on the profile Eject tab. Therefore, if you want a

volume to be ejected, ensure that it is in a robotic volume group and in one of the

off-site volume pools specified on the profile Eject tab.

Multiple volume groups (Multiple robots)

A profile will only eject media from the robotic volume group of the vault to

which the profile belongs, and a volume group cannot span robots (typically, a

volume group identifies a specific robot). However, a profile can select images to

duplicate that are in a different robot’s volume group and in multiple volume

groups, which is useful if you have backup images on multiple robots and want

to duplicate those images on media in a robot from which the media will be

ejected.

42 Best practices

Do not Vault more than you need to

If you use this configuration, it must be configured with care as described in

“Alternative A: dedicated robot for Vault processing” on page 48.

Do not Vault more than you need toWhen you are setting up NetBackup Vault, you should be careful that you do not

select and transfer off-site more data than you need to.

Send only the intended backups off-siteWhen configuring your backup policies, do not assign backup images not

intended to be moved off-site to volumes in an off-site volume pool. In some

circumstances, Vault will eject a volume if it contains images not intended for

off-site storage. For example, if volume ABC123 has three images from policy1

and three images from policy2, and policy1 is specified on the profile Eject tab,

volume ABC123 will be ejected even though it contains images from policy 2.

Use different volume pools for backup images you want to keep on site and for

backup images you want to send to the vault. If you use the same volume pool

for both, you will vault the backup images that should remain on-site. Also, if

you use the same volume pool for both, a deadlock situation may result if your

Vault profile is duplicating images because it may attempt to read a backup

image from the same tape to which it tries to write the image.

Avoid vaulting partial imagesOriginal backup tapes often begin and end with partial images, as shown in the

following figure:

If you eject and vault original backup media, that media may contain partial

images. To avoid vaulting partial images, use one of the following methods:

■ Stop backup activity long enough to run Vault.

43Best practices

Do not Vault more than you need to

■ If backup jobs are running, use the Suspend Media for the Next Session

option on the profile Eject tab to suspend all media on which backups were

written within the last day and then vault only those backups that are older

than one day. No more backup images will be written to that media, and that

media will be ready to be ejected.

When Suspend Media for the Next Session is used, the following shows what

occurs during NetBackup and Vault operations:

Only use the Suspend Media for the Next Session option if you eject original

backup media and want to avoid vaulting partial images. You should carefully

consider whether to use the Suspend Media for the Next Session option. It uses

extra CPU cycles because it queries all of the databases again and applies all of

the Choose Backups filters again, prolonging the length of time required to

suspend the media. Therefore, some partial images on vaulted media may be

acceptable. If you use this option, it is possible that the original backup media

vaulted will not be full.

This option does not suspend media that is in use, such as media to which

NetBackup is writing backup images.

Note: Vault only suspends media in off-site volume pools specified on the profile

Eject tab.

Vaulting original backups in a 24x7 environmentIf you use Vault in an environment in which backups can occur 24 hours a day,

seven days a week, a profile may try to eject media to which backups are being

written. Because Vault cannot suspend media on which backups are currently

being written, an error will occur and partial images may be vaulted. The rest of

the image will be vaulted the next time the profile runs if that tape is not busy

and the choose backups time window is large enough to select the image again.

44 Best practices

Preparing for efficient recovery

To avoid such problems when vaulting originals, choose backups that were

created a day or more ago and suspend the media to prevent writing to the

media. (This assumes that your backups will be complete by the time the Vault

session runs.)

Preparing for efficient recoveryPreparing in advance can help you restore your data more quickly and easily.

The following can help you prepare for recovery.

Vault NetBackup catalogsUse Vault to vault the NetBackup catalogs. A current catalog backup is a critical

component of an effective disaster recovery plan. Although you can rebuild the

catalog by importing all of your backup media manually, it is a time-consuming

process.

Requirements and Guidelines

■ Perform the catalog backup step in Vault. Vault creates a new catalog backup

with up-to-date information, it does not duplicate an existing NetBackup

catalog backup. A NetBackup catalog backup is not a substitute for a Vault

catalog backup because it does not include the latest information about

duplicated media and media location.

■ Use only one vault to do Vault catalog backup.

■ Use a dedicated volume pool for Vault catalog backups.

■ If you have a robot attached to the master server, use it for the Vault catalog

backup because in most circumstances that master server creates the

NetBackup catalog that remains on site. (See the discussion of NetBackup

catalog backups in the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I).

■ Retain the three most recent catalog backups. In most circumstances, you do

not need to retain vaulted catalog backups for the same length of time that

you retain other vaulted backup media. Although you only need one catalog

backup in your off-site vault, for extra protection, maintaining the three

most recent catalog backups in your off-site vault is a good practice. The

Recovery Report for Vault lists only the three most recent catalog backups in

the off-site vault regardless of how many actually reside in the vault.

■ To retain only the three most recent catalog backups, specify an appropriate

retention level so that older catalog backups expire and are recalled from

off-site storage and only the three most recent catalog backups remain in

off-site storage.

45Best practices


Use precise naming conventions for volume pools and groupsHow you name pools and groups can help you (and others) organize and more

easily identify media if you have to recover data after a disaster:

■ For volume pools, try to identify the purpose or data in the pools. For

example, Vaulted_Payroll, Vaulted_CustomerDB, 1_month_vault, and

7_year_vault are descriptive volume pool names.

■ For Vault catalog backups, use an easily identified name for the catalog

volume pool (such as Vault_Catalog_Backups).

■ For off-site volume groups, use names that indicate the physical location of

the data, such as “offsite_volume_group.”

Match volume pools to data usageVolumes are assigned to volume pools. To assist with recovery, create and use

off-site volume pools that match your data usage (that is, the type of data). For

example, if you maintain a customer database, you will probably want to restore

all of your customer database at the same time if you recover from a disaster. All

of your customer database backup data should be assigned to an off-site volume

pool specifically for that data, and only backup images of the customer database

should be assigned to that off-site volume pool.

This volume pool (for example, Vaulted_CustomerDB) can correspond to all

profiles within a logical vault or to a single profile, depending on how your Vault

environment is configured.

Designate a primary copy and keep it on siteThe first (or only) original backup image is the primary backup copy. NetBackup

always uses the primary copy for restore operations, and Vault uses the primary

copy for duplication operations (unless the primary copy is on removable media

and another copy exists on disk). Ensure that primary copies on removable

media remain on site in your robot. If the primary copy is off site, a user

initiated restore operation will wait indefinitely for a mount of the off-site

media.

If you create multiple original backups during a NetBackup policy job, do not

assign the primary copy to an off-site volume pool unless you intend to send it

off site. If you assign the primary copy to an off-site volume pool, it will be

ejected and will not be available for restore or duplication operations.

If your Vault profile duplicates media and you send the first original off site,

configure Vault to designate one of the duplicate images that remain on site as

the primary copy.

46 Best practices


Suspend vaulted mediaUnexpired media that is recalled and injected back into the robot should be

suspended so NetBackup will not write images to it. Suspending media before it

is ejected also helps to prevent errors from ejecting media that is in use. Vault

profile Eject tab options let you suspend the media that is ejected so you do not

have to suspend it if it is recalled. You also can choose to suspend media before it

is ejected so that partial images are not written to that media.

The following table describes the two suspend options available on the Eject tab:

Note: Vault only suspends media in off-site volume pools specified on the Eject

tab.

Table 3-4 Suspend options available with the Eject tab.

Option Purpose

Suspend this

Session’s Media

To suspend media in the eject list for the current session. If you

select Immediately, no more images will be written to the media. If

you select At Time of Eject, images may be written to the media

until the media are ejected; select At Time of Eject if you want the

media sent off-site to be full.

Because Suspend this Session’s Media operates on media in the

eject list, it does not use more CPU cycles selecting media to

suspend.

Suspend Media for

the Next Session

To prevent partial images from being written onto media that

contains images to be vaulted. Use this option only if you vault

original images and want to avoid vaulting partial images on

backup media.

You should carefully consider whether to use this option. It uses

extra CPU cycles because it queries all of the databases again and

applies all of the Choose Backups filters again. Also, this option

will not suspend media that is in use, such as media to which

NetBackup is writing backup images.

This option will suspend duplicate media created by Vault;

however, the Suspend this Session’s Media option is a better choice

for suspending duplicate media because it does not use CPU cycles

to select media to suspend.

For information about how partial images can be written to media,

see “Avoid vaulting partial images” on page 42.

47Best practices

Media ejection recommendations

Revault unexpired mediaYou should always revault media that was recalled from off-site storage and

injected into the robot (for example, if you recalled a volume to use for a restore

operation). If you do not eject the media and transfer it to your off-site vault

location, it will not be available if media at your site are damaged.

Media ejection recommendationsAlthough Vault queues jobs, you can reduce the chances of error conditions

from busy robots and reduce potential problems by the following:

■ Eject media during a dedicated time period when no other inject or eject

operations occur.

■ Do not inject or eject other media while Vault is ejecting media.

■ Do not inventory a robot while Vault is ejecting media.

Avoid resource contention during duplication

Note: If you vault original backups, you do not have to use practices that avoid or

reduce resource contention in Vault.

Following are the resources that you should consider when configuring

duplication in Vault:

■ Time (that is, when the operations occur)

■ Media used

■ Robots and drives

■ Bandwidth

Various configurations can help you avoid resource contention. Also, a general

principle that can help avoid resource contention is to wait until backups are

completed before using Vault to duplicate or eject media.

When two processes try to use the same driveCareful configuration of your environment can help avoid resource contention

during Vault duplication, which can occur when two processes try to use the

same drive at the same time. To avoid resource contention, follow the advice

provided in one of the following alternatives:

48 Best practices


These alternative configurations work well for multi-robot environments; they

use available resources wisely and are unlikely to cause resource allocation

problems.

Alternative A: dedicated robot for Vault processing

Note: Alternate read servers apply to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.

In a multi-robot environment, dedicate one robot strictly for vault processing.

The media in this robot will contain only the duplicate backup copies that are to

be ejected and sent to the off-site vault. This configuration works best in a

storage area network (SAN) environment where all media servers have direct

access to the vault robot because then the duplication step will not send data

over the network.

There are two ways to achieve this configuration, as follows:

■ Use a NetBackup policy to create multiple original backup images

concurrently. Write the first backup image (the primary backup) to a storage

unit that is not in the Vault robot. Write one of the other originals to the

Vault robot and assign it to the off-site volume pool. Configure a Vault

profile to eject all media in that vault’s off-site volume pool. This

configuration requires that all robots used be connected to the same

NetBackup media server.

■ Use Vault to duplicate images. Backup images will be duplicated from all

other robots to the Vault robot. Use one of the following alternatives to

configure Vault to perform duplication:

■ On the Duplication tab of the Profile dialog box, do not select Advanced

Configuration or Alternate Read Server. For each backup image, the

media server that performed the backup will also perform the

duplication. All media servers will send duplication data to the

Destination Storage Unit media server. If the Destination Storage Unit

media server is not the same as the media server that performed the

backup, the data will be sent over the network.

■ On the Duplication tab of the Vault Profile dialog box, specify the

destination storage unit’s media server as the Alternate Read Server

but do not select Advanced Configuration. If the alternate read server

also has access to all of the backup robots, no data will be sent over the

network.

■ On the Choose Backups tab of the Profile dialog box, specify All Media

Servers in the Media Servers list. On the Duplication tab, select

Advanced Configuration, select Alternate Read Server, then create an

entry for each media server in your environment. To avoid sending

49Best practices


duplication data over the network, for each media server entry specify

the destination storage unit’s media server as the alternate read server;

that server must have access to all the robots that hold the source

images so they will be duplicated. Ensure that the total number of write

drives specified in the Write Drives column for each entry does not

exceed the number of drives in the Vault robot.

If you use this alternative, do not use Any Available storage unit in your backup

policies unless only your Vault storage units are set to On Demand Only. Using

Any Available for other storage units may cause images not intended for off-site

storage to be written to the Vault robot. You can achieve the same behavior

provided by Any Available storage unit by configuring your backup policies to

use a storage unit group that includes all storage units except for the vault

robot’s (although if you use storage unit groups you cannot make multiple

copies simultaneously).

Advantage

This configuration is most convenient for the operator, who can eject and inject

tapes from only one robot, simplifying the tape rotation process.

Disadvantage

In a complex environment, this alternative can be difficult to configure if you

want to avoid sending duplication data over the network.

Alternative B: each robot as a Vault robot


In a multi-robot environment, configure each backup robot to be a Vault robot.

Each robot will duplicate and/or eject only backup images that were originally

written to it. You can do so in several ways, as follows:

■ Use a NetBackup policy to create multiple original backups, assigning the

copy to be vaulted to an off-site volume pool in any of the robots. For each

robot, configure one vault and one profile that ejects the backups that were

assigned to the off-site volume pool in that robot. Only backups on media in

the off-site volume pools specified on the Eject tab and that meet the rest of

the criteria specified in the profile will be ejected.

■ Use Vault to duplicate images. On the Choose Backups tab of the Profile

dialog box, specify the robot to which the profile belongs in the Source

Volume Group field. This will limit the profile so that it will duplicate only

backup images that have their primary copy on media in this robot. Specify

half of the available drives in the robot as read drives so that an equal

50 Best practices


number of read and write drives are available. Configure one such vault and

profile for each robot.

To avoid sending duplication data over the network, specify the media

server of the destination storage unit as the Alternate Read Server.

Advantages

These methods work well with backup policies that use Any Available storage

unit. Using Vault to duplicate images also works well with storage unit groups if

you make one copy only.

This configuration avoids resource contention when one profile attempts to

duplicate images in multiple robots.

Note: The destination storage unit must have at least two drives if that robot will

be used for both read and write functions.

Alternative C: one robot as both a backup and Vault robot

In a multi-robot environment, configure all of the robots as backup robots and

configure one of the backup robots as a Vault robot also. (One of the robots

functions as both a backup robot and a Vault robot.) Configure one vault for the

Vault robot, and in that vault configure one profile for each of the backup

robots. In each profile, specify the backup robot in the Source Volume Group

field of the Choose Backups tab and specify a destination storage unit that is in

the Vault robot.

For example, if you have three robots that each have four drives, configure the

three profiles as follows:

■ In the profile for robot one (a backup robot only), specify the volume group

in robot one as the Source Volume Group, specify four read drives, and

specify a destination storage unit in robot three (robot three is the Vault

robot). Images in robot one are read by four drives and written to four drives

in robot three. Four duplication jobs run simultaneously.

■ In the profile for robot two (a backup robot only), specify the volume group

in robot two as the Source Volume Group, specify four read drives, and

specify a destination storage unit in robot three. Images in robot two are

read by four drives and written to four drives in robot three. Four

duplication jobs run simultaneously.

■ In the profile for robot three (a backup and Vault robot), specify the volume

group in robot three as the Source Volume Group, specify two read drives,

and specify a destination storage unit in robot three. Images in robot three

are read by two drives and written to two drives. Two duplication jobs run

simultaneously.

51Best practices


All images are duplicated to robot three and ejected from robot three.

Advantages

This method works well with backup policies that use Any Available storage

unit. Using Any Available storage unit in your backup policies sends backup

images to media in any storage unit available, and this configuration selects

backup images on all the robots and duplicates them to the Vault robot.

Note: The destination robot must have at least two drives if that robot will be

used for both read and write functions.

When the read drive is not in the Vault robotThe read drive does not have to be in the vault’s robot. For configurations that

include multiple media servers and multiple robots, we recommend that you

seek advice from Veritas Enterprise Consulting Services.

Sharing resources with backup jobsVault duplication jobs compete with other process in NetBackup (such as

regularly scheduled backups) for resources, including tape drives. If you want

your Vault duplication jobs to obtain resources before other processes, assign a

higher priority to the Vault jobs than is assigned to other NetBackup processes.

Vault duplication job priority is assigned for each profile in the Duplication tab.

Vault catalog backup jobs run at the priority assigned in the catalog backup

policy unless you assign a different priority in the Vault catalog backup

schedule Multiple Copies dialog box.

Priority for NetBackup jobs are assigned in the master server Global Properties.

In addition, using the Any Available storage unit for backup jobs can send some

original backup images to the Vault robot. Subsequently, when Vault tries to

duplicate those images, it requires a read drive and a write drive in the vault

robot. If not enough drives are available, a deadlock condition can occur.

Symantec recommends that you preview the images you want to duplicate

before you run the Vault job, which will show you where the images are located

and what kind of resources will be required to duplicate them.

To preview the images to be duplicated, see “Previewing a Vault session” on

page 135.

52 Best practices


Load balancingIf it is feasible, Symantec strongly recommends that you create multiple original

backup images concurrently in your backup policies to create both the on-site

copy and the copy that will be sent to the vault rather than using Vault

duplication. The vault process is simpler and easier if you do not duplicate

images.

If you cannot Vault originals, several strategies can help you balance the load on

your computing environment.

Profiles for both originals and duplicates

Vault can eject both original backups and duplicate images, so you can spread

the load between backup jobs and Vault duplication jobs. For example, if your

backup window is too small to create multiple simultaneous copies of all

backups, you can create multiple copies of some of the backups and only one

copy of the other backups and then configure a Vault profile to duplicate from

the single original backups and eject both the original images and the duplicate

images. For example:

■ NetBackup policy A creates multiple original copies and assigns one of the

copies to an off-site volume pool.

■ NetBackup policy B creates one copy and assigns it to an on-site volume

pool.

■ Your Vault profile is configured to copy backup images and assign the

duplicate images to an off-site volume pool.

When you run that Vault profile, Vault copies backup images from NetBackup

policy B only and does not duplicate images from policy A because an original

already exists in the off-site volume pool. If you have configured the profile for

eject, it will eject both the copy of the original media from policy A and the

duplicate media from policy B.

If your Vault vendor does not pick up media every day

You can use Vault to duplicate backup images daily and eject volumes weekly.

Duplication occurs every day rather than one day only, spreading the workload

evenly throughout the week. The media remains in the robot until it is due to be

collected by the vault vendor. For example, if the vault vendor picks up the

media every Friday, you can do the following:

■ Configure a Vault profile to do duplication only, and configure a vault policy

to run this profile every day of the week.

■ Configure a second Vault profile to do the catalog backup and eject steps.

This profile should use the same image selection criteria as the profile that

53Best practices

Avoid sending duplicates over the network

duplicates images. Configure a Vault policy to run this profile before the

vault vendor arrives on Friday.

This method for duplicating and ejecting media provides the added benefit of

consolidated reports that are not organized by session.

Specify different volume pools for source and destinationYou should never configure a profile for duplication so that the source volume

and the destination volume are in the same volume pool. This will result in

deadlock when NetBackup chooses the same tape as the source and the

destination of the duplication operation. (This is a NetBackup limitation.)

Use a separate volume pool for each VaultJobs within the same vault are queued and then run when resources are

available. However, if multiple profiles from different vaults run simultaneously

and use the same off-site volume pool for duplication, those jobs could all pick

the same target media, circumventing the queuing mechanism and causing

undesirable results (such as a deadlock condition when multiple jobs try to use

the same drive at the same time).

Therefore, you should configure Vault so that every vault has its own off-site

volume pool.

Avoid sending duplicates over the networkSending duplicate images over the network is not a problem if there is sufficient

bandwidth, but even a fiber optic storage area network (SAN) has only enough

bandwidth for two or three duplication jobs at a time.

Following are some strategies you can use to avoid sending data over the

network.

Create originals concurrentlyOne way to avoid sending data over the network with your Vault job is to create

multiple original backup images concurrently during your scheduled backup

jobs. This avoids the need for your Vault session to do duplication. In this

scenario, Vault need only eject the backup tapes. Vault takes no significant

resource time, except for the Catalog Backup step. (Catalog Backup is necessary

to capture the changed volume database information for each vaulted tape.)

Suppose you want the on-site copy of your backups to go to one robot, and the

off-site copy to go to another robot. If you create multiple backup images

concurrently, all destination storage units must be on the same media server.

54 Best practices


Therefore, your media server will need a storage unit on both robots (one

storage unit for your on-site copy and one for the off-site copy).

Use alternate read server


An alternate read server is a server used to read a backup image originally

written by a different media server. You can avoid sending data over the

network during duplication by specifying an alternate read server if the

alternate read server is:

■ Connected to the robot that has the original backups (the source volumes).

■ Connected to the robot that contains the destination storage units.

Note: If the destination storage unit is not connected to the alternate read

server, you will send data over the network.

For example, in the diagram below, non-disk images written by media servers A,

B, C, and D will be read by the alternate read server.

55Best practices


Use advanced duplication configuration

Note: More than one media server applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.

If each media server has access to at least one unique drive in the destination

robot, you can use advanced duplication to process each media server

independently and concurrently. (Note: all media from a single profile are

ejected from the same robot.) You can do the same thing by configuring a

separate profile for each media server rather than using advanced duplication

configuration. However, multiple profiles within a single vault must run

consecutively, so this may not allow you sufficient bandwidth.

In the following diagram, no alternate read server is used and each media server

reads and duplicates its own backup images.

Take Care When Specifying All Media Servers

If you specify All Media Servers on the Choose Backups tab of a profile and also

use Advanced Configuration on the Duplication tab, create an entry for each

media server on the Duplication tab advanced configuration view.

56 Best practices

Increase duplication throughput

If you list more media servers on the Choose Backups tab than on the

Duplication tab, Vault assigns the images written by media servers not listed in

the advanced view to the first media server that finishes its duplication job. If

the first available media server is across the network, a lot of data would be sent

over the network.

Another possible, though less problematic, consequence is that backup images

from the media servers not configured for duplication may be duplicated by a

different media server each time the profile is run.

Use Storage units that specify a media serverNetBackup lets you create a storage unit without specifying a media server for

that storage unit (that is, you can specify Any Available for the media server for

the storage unit). When a job uses such a storage unit, NetBackup determines

the media server to be used with the storage unit when a job runs.

If you specify a destination storage unit that uses Any Available media server for

Vault duplication, NetBackup may choose a different media server for the

duplication job than the source media server. If so, data will be sent over the

network.

Therefore, to avoid sending duplicates over the network, use storage units that

specify a media server (that is, do not use storage units that are configured to

use Any Available media server).

Increase duplication throughputAdding drives will enable Vault to run multiple duplicate sessions concurrently.

For each write drive, a separate duplication job (bpduplicate) will be started.

The following provides information about multiple drive environments:

Configuring for multiple-drives: BasicsIn a basic multiple-drive configuration, there are an equal number of read and

write drives, one master server, and one media server. The storage units are

attached to the host on which the media server resides. A duplication process

runs for each read/write drive pair. If the master server and media server reside

on different hosts, media duplication data will be transferred over a network.

57Best practices

Increase duplication throughput

Note: Only NetBackup Enterprise Server allows a master server and media

server to reside on different hosts.

Multiple-drive scenario: Does not send data over networkIn a multiple-drive configuration that does not send data over the network, the

configuration will have an equal number of read and write drives, one master

server, and multiple media servers. A separate duplication process runs for each

read/write drive pair during a duplication operation. If you designate an

alternate read server (media server A) for reading the images to duplicate and if

the destination storage unit also resides on the alternate read server (media

server A), no data will be sent over the network.

58 Best practices

Maximize drive utilization during duplication


Maximize drive utilization during duplicationTo maximize drive utilization, Symantec recommends that you do your

duplication with as few Vault jobs as possible.

The more profiles you use, the less efficient the duplication process becomes.

Drives will be idle between the duplication steps of consecutive Vault jobs while

Vault is doing all of its other processing (selecting images, backing up the

catalog, generating reports, and so on). It is much more efficient to use as few

Vault profiles as possible for duplication. Therefore, if you can configure one

Vault profile to duplicate all of your data, you will reduce idle time and get the

maximum utilization of your drives.

In Vault 5.0 and later, you can configure one Vault profile to create off-site

copies with multiple, different retentions. By doing this, a single Vault profile

can do all of your duplication, which keeps your drives spinning from the time of

the first image to the last, with no pause.

For more information about multiple retention mappings, see “Assigning

multiple retentions with one profile” on page 156.

59Best practices

Use scratch volume pools

Use scratch volume poolsA scratch pool is an optional volume pool that you can use to ensure that

volumes are allocated to the volume pools that need them. Media Manager

moves volumes from a scratch pool to other pools that do not have volumes

available, including Vault pools. Expired volumes are returned to the scratch

pool automatically.

You can set up a scratch pool in two ways, as follows:

■ Create a scratch pool and add all your volumes to it, then create all the other

volume pools but do not allocate any volumes to them. Media Manager will

then move volumes from the scratch pool to the other volume pools as

needed and return the expired volumes to the scratch pool.

■ Create your volume pools and allocate volumes to them, and then create a

scratch pool and allocate volumes to it. Media Manager moves volumes

between the scratch pool and the other volume pools as needed and returns

the expired volumes to the scratch pool. This method may be the best option

if you decide to add a scratch pool to an existing NetBackup configuration.

The scratch pool feature can affect reports for media coming on site. If you use a

scratch pool, the Picking List for Vault, the Offsite Inventory, and the All Media

Inventory reports may include volumes from other profiles or vaults that have

expired and moved back into the scratch pool even though the reports may be

for a specific Vault profile or session.

For information about configuring scratch pools, see the NetBackup

Administrator’s Guide.

Ensure report integrityYou should determine whether you want your Vault reports to group media by

robot, by vault, or by profile. Your decision affects how you use your volume

groups and volume pools.

Vault searches the off-site volume group for the media to include in the reports.

It also uses the off-site volume pools for the same purpose. Therefore, you can

use either the off-site volume group or the off-site volume pool(s) to organize

media for each robot, vault, or profile.

Organizing reports by robotTo ensure that reports are organized by robot, all the vaults within each robot

should use the same off-site volume group (that is, each robot has its own

off-site volume group). This organizes reports by robot and maximizes the reuse

of tapes. Media from one robot will not appear on the reports for another robot.

60 Best practices

Generate the lost media report regularly

Reports will not seem consistent for an individual logical vault, but this strategy

will maximize the frequency with which tapes are returned for reuse. Every time

the Picking List for Vault report is generated for any profile within any vault for

the robot, tapes from all profiles and logical vaults for that robot could be

recalled for reuse (depending on how profiles share off-site volume pools).

Organizing reports by VaultTo ensure that the Vault reports include media for each vault, specify a separate

off-site volume group for each vault within a robot (that is, each vault has its

own off-site volume group) and a common off-site volume pool for all profiles

within each vault (that is, all profiles in the vault use the same off-site volume

pool). Doing so ensures that each report contains media from one vault.

Organizing reports by profileIf you want the reports to include only media for a single profile, use a separate

off-site volume pool for each profile.

Consequences of sharing an off-site volume group across multiple robots

If profiles from multiple robots share both an off-site volume group and one or

more off-site volume pools, your vault vendor will return a group of tapes (for a

single Picking List for Vault report) that were ejected from multiple robots. The

operator will need to identify which tapes should be injected into each of the

robots. If mistakes are made identifying and injecting tapes, you can inject the

incorrect media and possibly the incorrect number of media into your robots.

Generate the lost media report regularlyYou should generate the Lost Media Report regularly so you can recall media

that has not been returned from the off-site vault vendor but should have been

returned. Media can get stranded at the off-site vault for various reasons:

■ Frozen backup tapes never expire. A backup tape that does not expire will

not appear on the Picking List for Vault and will not be recalled from the

vault.

■ A backup tape appears on the Picking List for Vault and Distribution List for

Robot only once. If a tape from that report is missed and is not returned to

the robot, it will never again be listed for recall.

61Best practices


■ You change off-site volume group or pool names; for example, if you begin

using a new media type, you will have to use a new volume pool name. If you

change names, media may be stranded off-site because the Picking List for

Vault is based on off-site volume pools and off-site volume groups, and

media associated with the old names will not be listed. Symantec

recommends that you do not change or rename group or pool names.

For more information, see “Changing volume pools and groups” on

page 221.

How often you generate the Lost Media Report depends on your operations.

Weekly or monthly may be often enough.

62 Best practices


Chapter 4

Configuring NetBackup for

Vault

Before you configure Vault, you must do the following in NetBackup:

■ Create Off-site Volume Pools

■ Create a Vault Catalog Backup Schedule

You should review the best practices information. It can help you determine how

to set up and configure Vault.


You should be familiar with basic NetBackup concepts, such as volume pools and

groups, policies, and storage units. For more information about them, including

how to configure them in NetBackup, see the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide,

Volume I.

Off-site volume poolsVolume pools identify logical sets of volumes by usage. They are used by Vault

to determine if a volume should be ejected. Volume pools for images to be

transferred off site are known as off-site volume pools. When you create the

images that you want to send off site, write them to media in an off-site volume

pool. During a Vault job, Vault searches a robot for images that match the

selection criteria; if the media the images reside on are in an off-site volume

pool, Vault ejects that media.

You need at least two dedicated volume pools:

■ Off-site Volume Pool. Vault ejects media from off-site volume pools, so data

that you want to transfer off site should be assigned to media in an off-site

volume pool. You can assign either original backup images created as part of

a NetBackup policy job or duplicate images created by a Vault job to the

64 Configuring NetBackup for Vault

Off-site volume pools

off-site volume pool. How many off-site volume pools you use depend on

your operations.

■ Vault Catalog Backup Volume Pool. If you are writing the Vault catalog to

removable media, you should use a volume pool dedicated for Vault catalog

backups. When you configure the volume pool in Media Manager, ensure

that the Catalog Backup attribute is set. You should use only one Vault

catalog backup volume pool. Vault does not require a dedicated volume pool

for its catalog backups; however, if you do not use one, regular NetBackup

media or catalog media may be ejected.

Do not use the NetBackup volume pool for Vault media. Because the NetBackup

volume pool is the default volume pool, if you use it for Vault you will probably

send more data off-site than you want to.

Best Practices

■ “Use precise naming conventions for volume pools and groups” on page 45

■ “Match volume pools to data usage” on page 45

■ “Use scratch volume pools” on page 59

Creating a volume poolVolume pools are configured in the Media and Device Management > Media

node of the NetBackup Administration Console.

Ensure that the volume pools you create have sufficient volumes allocated to

them (or to a scratch pool if one exists).

After a volume is assigned to an off-site volume pool, it remains in that pool and

will be used for rotation within that same pool (unless a scratch pool exists, in

which case it will be returned to the scratch pool).

See the The following are basic instructions for creating a volume pool. For

more information about volume pools and allocating volumes to them, see the

NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I and the NetBackup Administration

help.

To create a volume pool

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, click Media and Device

Management > Media.

2 Click Actions > New > Volume Pool.

The Add a New Volume Pool dialog box appears.

3 In the Pool name text box, enter a name for the new volume pool.

The name must be 20 characters or less and cannot contain any spaces or

special characters.

65Configuring NetBackup for Vault

Catalog backup schedules for Vault

4 In the Description text box, enter a brief description for the pool.

5 NetBackup Enterprise Server only: To allow only a specific host to use the

volumes in this pool, do the following:

a Select Permit only the specified host to access volumes in the pool.

b In the Host name text box, enter the name of the host that is allowed to

request and use the volumes in this volume pool.

Note: Symantec recommends that you do not specify a specific host.

Allowing any host (the default) is recommended and is required if you have

NetBackup media servers (or SAN media servers) controlled by a master

server. Never specify the name of a client.

6 Select the Catalog backup pool check box if you will use this volume pool to

back up the NetBackup catalog. This check box creates a dedicated catalog

backup pool to be used for catalog policies. A dedicated catalog volume pool

reduces the number of tapes needed during catalog restores since catalog

backup media are not mixed with other backup media.

Catalog backup schedules for VaultNetBackup uses a special backup policy of type NBU-Catalog to perform catalog

backups. To perform a Vault catalog backup, Vault uses a special schedule of

type Vault Catalog Backup in an NBU-Catalog policy.

Before you can configure the catalog backup step in Vault, you must create a

Vault Catalog Backup schedule in an NBU-Catalog policy.

Related Topics

■ “Catalog backup tab” on page 114

Best Practices

■ “Vault NetBackup catalogs” on page 44

Creating a Vault catalog backup scheduleYou can create a schedule in an existing catalog backup policy or create a new

catalog backup policy and schedule. You can create more than one Vault Catalog

Backup schedule per policy, and your NetBackup environment may have more

than one NBU-Catalog policy.

You must specify the storage unit and, if the storage unit uses removable media,

a volume pool for the Vault catalog backup:

■ If creating one copy of the catalog, you must:



■ Override the policy’s storage unit and select a storage unit.

■ Override the policy’s volume pool and select the dedicated Vault

catalog volume pool (for removable media only).

■ If making multiple copies, select the storage unit and the dedicated Vault

catalog volume pool (removable media only).

You do not have to specify a volume pool for disk storage units.

Prerequisite

■ Create an NBU-Catalog type of backup policy. For instructions, see the

NetBackup Administrator’s Guide.

■ To create a Vault catalog backup schedule in an existing policy

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, expand NetBackup Management

> Policies.

2 Double click on the policy name.

3 Select the Schedules tab.

4 Click New.

The Change Schedule dialog box appears.

5 See Vault catalog backup schedule configuration options for the options you

can configure.



Vault catalog backup schedule configuration options

The following table shows the configuration options for the NBU Catalog policy

Schedules Attributes tab:

Multiple catalog backup configuration options

The Configure Multiple Copies dialog box appears only if you select the Multiple

Copies checkbox on an NBU Catalog policy Schedule Attributes tab and then

click Configure.

Table 4-5 Schedules Attributes tab configuration options

Property Description

Name Enter the name of the schedule. Use a name that identifies it as a Vault catalog

backup schedule.

Type of backup Select Vault Catalog Backup.

Multiple copies To create multiple copies of the catalog, select Multiple copies, click Configure,

and then select the appropriate attributes for each copy in the Configure Multiple

Copies dialog box.

See “Multiple catalog backup configuration options” on page 67.

Override policy storage unit Select this option and then select the storage unit to use from the drop-down list

Override policy volume pool If the storage unit is on removable media, select this option and then select the

volume pool for off-site catalog backups (does not apply to disk storage units). If

you are using Media Manager storage units, use a dedicated off-site volume pool

for Vault catalogs.

Retention Select the length of time before the catalog backup expires and the volumes are

recalled from the off-site vault.

After the Retention has passed, catalog backup media appear on the Picking List

for Vault or Distribution List for Robot. Vault recalls that media so it is available to

reuse as catalog backup media.



Use this dialog box to create multiple copies of a Vault catalog backup. For

Media Manager storage units, all storage units must be connected to the same

media server.

The following table describes configuration options for the Configure Multiple

Copies dialog box for catalog backup.

Table 4-6 Configure Multiple Copies dialog box options


Copies Select or enter the number of copies to create concurrently. The number of

copies to create concurrently. You can create up to 4 or the number of

copies specified in the Maximum Backup Copies field for the NetBackup

master server (if less than 4). (Configured in NetBackup Management >

Host Properties > Master Server > server_name > Global NetBackup

Attributes.) By default, the value is two: one original backup and one copy.

If This Copy Fails The action to perform if a copy fails: Continue or Fail All Copies.

If you choose Fail All Copies, the entire backup job will fail and no copies

will be made. NetBackup will automatically retry the job if time permits

and, the next time the backup window for the policy opens, NetBackup will

again try to run the backup (regardless of the frequency of the schedule).

NetBackup will do this until the backup succeeds, although one or more

backup windows may pass before the backup is successful.

Priority of Duplication Job Specify the priority of the duplication jobs for the catalog copies, from 0

(lowest) to 99,999 (highest) priority. The job for each copy will run using

this priority.


Master server properties for Vault

Master server properties for VaultSeveral NetBackup master server properties control some aspects of Vault. For

information about how to set these properties, see the following:

■ “Setting the maximum number of Vault jobs” on page 69

■ “Setting the duration of Vault session files” on page 223

■ “Setting the duration and level of logs” on page 239

Setting the maximum number of Vault jobsVault uses the Maximum Vault Jobs property as a threshold for queueing jobs.

The Maximum Vault Jobs property is configured on the NetBackup master

server. For more information, see the Maximum Vault Jobs property in the

NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I.

For information about how Vault queues jobs, see “Running multiple sessions

simultaneously” on page 134.

To set the maximum number of Vault jobs

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, expand NetBackup Management.

2 Expand Host Properties.

3 Select Master Server.

Retention Select the length of time before the catalog backup expires and the

volumes are recalled from the off-site vault.

After the Retention has passed, catalog backup media appear on the

Picking List for Vault or Distribution List for Robot. Vault recalls that

media so it is available to reuse as catalog backup media.

Storage Unit Select the storage unit that contains the resources to which the catalog

backup will be written.

Volume Pool If the storage unit is on removable media, select the volume pool for

off-site catalog backups (does not apply to disk storage units). If you are

using Media Manager storage units, use a dedicated off-site volume pool

for Vault catalogs.

Table 4-6 Configure Multiple Copies dialog box options (continued)



Master server properties for Vault

4 In the right pane, select the master server and then Actions > Properties.

5 Select Global Attributes Properties.

6 Specify the maximum number of vault jobs that can be active on the master

server.

The greater the maximum number of vault jobs, the more system resources

are used.

Chapter 5

Configuring Vault

When you configure Vault, you configure robots, vaults, and profiles.

Before configuring Vault, you must configure volume pools and a catalog backup

schedule for use with Vault.

See “Configuring NetBackup for Vault” on page 63.

After you configure Vault profiles, you configure policies to schedule when the

Vault jobs will run.

See “Scheduling a Vault session” on page 130.

Before configuring NetBackup and Vault, you should review the best practices

information. It can help you determine how to set up and configure Vault.


To configure Vault, see the following:

■ “Information required to configure Vault” on page 71

■ “Configuring Vault management properties” on page 74

■ “Configuring robots for Vault” on page 82

■ “Creating a Vault” on page 83

■ “Creating a profile” on page 88

■ “Configuring a profile” on page 90

Information required to configure VaultInformation about the general configuration for NetBackup is required so you

can set up and use NetBackup Vault. Collect and record the appropriate

information about the following so that it is available when you begin to

configure Vault.

72 Configuring Vault

Information required to configure Vault

Master server, media servers, and storage unitsCollect the following information about master servers, media servers, and

robotic devices, which are used in various configuration options in Vault.

Table 5-7 Server and storage unit information


Master Server Host Name The name of the host server on which the NetBackup master server and Vault are

installed.

Operating System Level of

Master Server

The release of the operating system on the system on which the NetBackup master

server is installed.

Number of Media Servers The number of media servers associated with the master server.

Media Server Name The name of each media server that controls the drives you want to use for the

vault process. This server should also be bound to a storage unit within the

NetBackup configuration. For NetBackup, all drives (of a given media type) that are

attached to a server are defined as one storage unit, which is the recommended

configuration for NetBackup.

For every media server, configure alternate media server names; for more

information, see “Alternate media server names tab” on page 76.

Operating System Level of

Media Servers

The release of the operating system on the host machines on which the NetBackup

media server or servers are installed.

Types of Robotic Devices The robotic devices associated with each media server. Use the appropriate

NetBackup terminology to identify the devices (for example, TLD, ACS, TL8) or

specify the actual hardware manufacturer and model names for each device.

Storage Unit Name The NetBackup storage units that are associated with each media server. You can

use the bpstulist -U command to generate a list of existing storage units.

Consider how many drives in each storage unit you want to use for vault sessions.

You may choose to keep some drives available for restores or backups while

duplication is running.

Number of Drives The number of drives in each storage unit. Tape to tape duplication requires drives

in pairs: one to read and one to write.

73Configuring Vault

Methods of configuration

Robot informationCollect the following information for each robot. Although the following

information is not required to configure a robot for Vault, it may help you plan

your configuration so that you use resources efficiently.

Methods of configurationYou can use the NetBackup Administration Console to configure Vault.

Alternatively, you can use the Vault Administration menu user interface on

UNIX systems (invoked by the vltadm command from a terminal window).

These instructions describe using the NetBackup Administration Console to

configure Vault.

In some circumstances, you may have to use the Vault Administration menu

interface to configure Vault, as follows:

■ The NetBackup master server is installed on a UNIX host that does not

support the NetBackup Administration Console and your computing

environment does not have a system from which you can run the NetBackup

Administration Console. (The NetBackup Administration Console that runs

on UNIX systems is a Java-based application.)

■ You have to connect to the UNIX system on which the NetBackup master

server is installed from a remote system that does not have the NetBackup

Administration Console. For example, if you have to connect to your network

Table 5-8 Robot properties


ACSLS Server The name of the ACSLS server. StorageTek only.

ACS Number The corresponding ACS number for this robot. You can obtain this information by

using the Media Manager tpconfig or by using the ACSLS console commands

such as query acs all or query lsm all. StorageTek only.

LSM Number The corresponding LSM number for this robot. You can obtain this information by

using the Media Manager tpconfig command or by using the ACSLS console

commands such as query acs all or query lsm all. StorageTek only.

MAP Capacity The capacity of the media access port (also known as cartridge access port). On

StorageTek systems, you can obtain this information by using the ACSLS

command query cap all from the ACSLS console.

MAP Numbers The identifiers for the media access port. On StorageTek systems, you can obtain

this information by using the ACSLS command query cap all from the ACSLS

console.


Configuring Vault management properties

by using a dial-up connection over a telephone line, you may have to use a

terminal window and use the Vault Administration interface.

For information about using the Vault Administration interface, see “Using the

Vault administration interface” on page 225

The NetBackup Vault Manager (nbvault) manages Vault activity and arbitrates

access to the Vault robot, vault, and profile configuration information. The

NetBackup Vault Manager must be running at all times so Vault will function

correctly. Because NetBackup Vault Manager arbitrates access, you can run

more than one instance of the NetBackup Administration Console; if one

instance of an administration interface or Vault command tries to change

configuration information while another instance is changing information,

Vault prompts the user to reload the information by using the Refresh option.

Versions of Vault earlier than 6.0 do not use the NetBackup Vault Manager to

arbitrate access to the Vault configuration. Therefore, do not use earlier

versions of the NetBackup Administration Console to modify Vault

configuration information.

Configuring Vault management propertiesVault Management Properties specify e-mail addresses for event notification,

alternate media server names, report properties for all vaults, and retention

level mappings for all vaults.

Configure Vault Management Properties in the following tabs in the dialog box:

■ “Vault Management Properties General tab” on page 74

■ “Alternate media server names tab” on page 76

■ “Retention mappings tab” on page 79

■ “Reports tab” on page 80

Vault Management Properties General tabUse the Vault Management Properties General tab to configure the following:

■ The E-mail address for session status notification.

■ The e-mail address for eject notification for all profiles.

■ The sort order for ejected media.

■ The reporting period for media going offsite reports.

Related Topics

■ “Setting up E-mail” on page 217

75Configuring Vault


To configure general Vault management properties

1 From within Vault Management, select Vault Management Properties from

the Actions menu.

The Vault Management Properties dialog box appears.

2 Select the General tab.

3 Enter information or select options as appropriate.

Table 5-9 describes the options.

Table 5-9 General Vault options


E-mail address for

notification of session status

An e-mail notification is sent at the end of each vault session; it provides a

summary of the vault session, in the form of a summary.log file, and the status of

the operation. The subject line of the e-mail message is formatted as follow:

Vault Status status_code [robot_number/vault/profile] (MasterServer)

By default, the e-mail is sent to the root or administrator user account on the

system on which the NetBackup master server is installed. If you enter e-mail

addresses in the E-mail address for notification of session status field, e-mail is

sent to those addresses rather than to the root user. You cannot disable

notification of session status.

To enter more than one address, separate the addresses with commas.



Alternate media server names tab Use the Vault Management Properties Alternate Media Server Names tab to add

alternate names of NetBackup media servers.

Adding alternate names for media servers simplifies configuration and helps

ensure that all images eligible to be vaulted are chosen. Vault expands any

occurrence of one of the names in a server name group to include all of the

names in the group.

For every media server, you should add the fully qualified name, the short name,

every name used by storage units that refer to it, any other names by which a

media server has ever been known, and if you have multiple network interface

cards (NICs) in the server, all server names or IP addresses associated with each

NIC.

You also can create a server name group that includes different servers. Then, in

the Media Servers field in the Profile Choose Backups tab, you only have to

specify the server name group rather than the individual servers. This use of the

Alternate Media Server Names dialog box allows you to use one name to specify

more than one server, which is useful if you want to duplicate images from

multiple servers.

E-mail address for eject

notification

An eject notification is sent to the e-mail addresses entered in the E-mail address

for eject notification field when the eject begins (includes a list of the media to be

ejected) and when the eject is completed.

Eject notification is configured for each profile on the Eject tab, for each robot on

the Vault Robot dialog box, and globally for Vault on the Vault Management

Properties dialog box General tab; Vault sends the notification to the first e-mail

addresses found in that order. You can configure different addresses in each place.

To enter more than one address, separate the addresses with commas.

Eject media, sort by You can select whether to eject media alphabetically or by expiration date. By

default, Vault ejects media alphabetically.

Lookback days for media

going offsite reports

You can enter the number of days before the day a profile runs to search for images

to include in media going off-site reports. This can reduce the amount of time to

generate reports because Vault will search fewer image database records to

determine which images are on the ejected media. By default, Vault searches the

entire image database.

Specifying a value does not affect whether media are ejected and vaulted; however,

if a volume is ejected that has an image on it older than the period you specify, that

image will not be listed on the media going off-site reports.

Table 5-9 General Vault options (continued)


77Configuring Vault


If you use the default, all media servers, for all of your vaults, you do not have to

specify alternate media server names.

Alternative media server names background

A media server may have more than one name. For example, a server can have a

fully qualified name, a short name, and more than one network interface card,

each of which has its own name. If a media server has more than one storage

unit, each storage unit can use a different name for that media server.

If a media server has more than one name, images backed up by it may be

identified by an alternate name. If you specify only one of the names of that

media server, images identified by the other names will not be vaulted.

Choose backups configuration is simplified if you specify media servers (that is,

specify something other than the default, all media servers). If you add alternate

media server names, you only have to specify one of those names in the Media

Servers field of the Profile dialog box Choose Backups tab; if you do not add

alternate media server names, you must specify all the names associated with

each media server on the Choose Backups tab.

Alternate media server names considerations

Be aware of the following associated with alternate media server names:

■ You must have enough drives in the specified destination storage unit to

keep up with the demand for duplication. If you do not, you risk a deadlock

situation.

■ The specified media servers must have access to the destination storage

unit. If not, you risk a deadlock situation and your Vault job will fail. To

prevent this situation, use the Media Servers criterion on the Choose

Backups tab to ensure that only backups from certain media servers will be

selected.

■ If multiple duplication rules use different media server names that are part

of a server name group, Vault processes only the first duplication rule;

successive rules do not get processed. Also, because the media server name

for the duplication rule is expanded to include all media server names in the

group, all images written by all storage units that use those media server

names are processed by the first duplication rule that uses any name from

the group. All images are processed, but by the first duplication rule only.

■ Your configuration can send data over the network, depending on the media

server(s) in use.



Note: Symantec recommends that you specify only one destination storage unit

per server. If you specify more than one, you may create a problem because

Vault does not have a mechanism to choose to which destination storage unit to

send the duplicate images.

Adding alternate media server names

Use the following procedure to add alternate media server names.

To add alternate media server names

1 From within Vault Management, select Vault Management Properties from

the Actions menu.

The Vault Management Properties dialog box appears.

2 Select the Alternate Media Server Names tab.

3 In the field below the Media Server Names window, enter all the alternate

names for the media server, separated by commas, and then click Add.

■ To remove a media server name group you previously added, highlight

it and click Delete.

■ To change a name group you previously added, highlight it and click

Change.

Each server name group should occupy one line in the Media Server Names

window.

79Configuring Vault


4 When finished, click OK.

Retention mappings tabGlobal retention mappings.

Use the Vault Management Properties dialog box Retention Mappings tab to

configure alternative retentions for all vaults.

To configure retention mappings for a specific vault, see “Retention mappings

tab” on page 87.

The following is an example of the Vault Management Properties Retention

Mappings tab.

To configure global retention mappings

1 Left-click in the field you want to change in the Vault Retention Level

column.

2 Select a retention level from the drop-down list.

3 Repeat for each level you want to change.

4 Click OK.

Related Topics

■ “Retention mappings overview” on page 80

■ “Assigning multiple retentions with one profile” on page 156



Retention mappings overview

Retention mapping lets you assign a retention level to a duplicate image that is

based on the retention level of the original image. For example, if the retention

of an original image is two weeks, you can configure the mapping so that the

duplicate image that is transferred off-site has a retention level of seven years.

You configure retention mappings in two places:

■ The Vault Management Properties dialog box Retention Mappings tab

(global)

■ The Vault dialog box Retention Mappings tab (vault specific)

By default, each retention level maps to itself (that is, retention level 0 maps to

0, 1 maps to 1, and so on).

To use the retention mappings, you must specify Use Mappings for the retention

level during duplication; you can specify normal retention calculation for some

duplication rules and alternative retention mappings for other duplication

rules. Vault uses the retention mappings in specific-to-global order; if

vault-specific retention mappings do not exist, Vault uses the global retention

mappings.

The retention level for a duplicate image is based on the retention level of the

primary backup image. The retention period begins on the date the primary

backup image was created, not on the date the duplicate image was created.

If the backup policy that created the primary backup image no longer exists,

duplication of that image will fail and the job will continue but report status 306

(vault duplication partially succeeded).

Retention mapping applies to duplication only; it does not apply if you vault

original NetBackup images.

Reports tabUse the Vault Management Properties global Reports tab to configure the

following:

■ Each report that you want generated when a profile runs.

■ Customize report titles.

■ The destinations for each report (e-mail, printer, and location to save).

The values configured on this tab are propagated to the Reports tab of each

profile. You can override the values you configure on this tab for any report on

any profile.

81Configuring Vault


The following is an example of the Vault Management Properties Reports tab.

To change report properties

1 Double-click on a report.

The Change Report Properties dialog box appears.

2 Select options and enter information as necessary.

If you change a title, the new title will be displayed on the Reports tab and in the

Report Type list box when you view Vault reports in the Administration Console.

If you consolidate your reports and also change titles, use the same title for all

profiles whose reports will be consolidated. The title is printed on the reports

and appears in the e-mail subject line if you e-mail the reports.

Related Topics

■ “Vault report types” on page 201

Best Practices



Configuring robots for Vault

Configuring robots for VaultUse the Vault Robot dialog box to configure the robots from which Vault will

eject media.

Vault robot dialog boxUse this dialog box to specify robots that you want to use for your vault. Vault

robots contain the media that has images to be stored off-site; that media will be

ejected so it can be transferred to the vault. The images can be original images

created during a backup job or duplicate images created by a Vault duplication

job.

You can select any robots that are recognized by NetBackup and that have

storage units associated with them. NetBackup assigns a number to each robot

that it recognizes, and eligible robots are recognized by Vault.

To configure a robot in Vault

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, highlight Vault Management.

2 Open the Actions menu and select New > New Vault Robot.

The New Vault Robot dialog box appears.

3 Enter information or select values as appropriate.

83Configuring Vault

Creating a Vault

Table 5-10 describes the fields.

Creating a VaultAfter you configure robots, you can create and configure vaults. Use the Vault

dialog box to create and configure vaults.

Topics

■ “Requirements for creating a Vault” on page 83

■ “How to create a Vault” on page 84

■ “Vault dialog box” on page 84

Related Topics

■ “How Vault uses volume groups and pools” on page 17

Requirements for creating a VaultThe following are the requirements for creating a vault:

■ At least one robot must be configured already in Vault.

Table 5-10 Robot configuration information


Robot Number The robot number assigned by Media Manager. Media Manager assigns a number

to each robot that it recognizes, and eligible robots are recognized by Vault. Based

on the robot number that you select, the other fields may be filled in automatically

Robot Name The name the robot. The name is configured in Media Manager, and Vault uses that

information to populate the Robot Name field.

Robot Type The robot type as configured in Media Manager. Vault uses that information to

populate the Robot Type field.

Robot Control Host The name of the host that controls the robot. Enter the name of the media server

that controls the robot.

Use e-mail address from

Vault Management Properties

for eject notification

Select to use the global eject notification e-mail address or enter e-mail

addressees, separated by commas, semicolons, or spaces, that will receive

notification when eject begins and ends.






Creating a Vault

■ A robot may contain multiple vaults, but a vault cannot span robots.

Therefore, if you configured three TLD robots for Vault (not connected with

pass-through devices), you must define at least three logical vaults, one for

each TLD robot.

■ Volumes in a vault must have the same density. If a robot has volumes of

different density and you want to use all of those volumes for Vault, that

robot must have a separate vault for each volume density.

How to create a VaultUse the following procedure to create a vault.

To create a vault

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, expand Vault Management.

2 Highlight a robot in the Vault Management tree.

3 From the Actions menu, choose New > New Vault.

The Vault dialog box appears.

4 On the Vault Attributes tab, enter or select values for each field.

5 On the Retention Mappings tab, enter or select values for each field.

6 Click OK.

Vault dialog boxA vault is a logical entity that refers to a collection of removable media drives

(usually tape drives) within a robot. You can use vaults to organize the data that

is going off-site; for example, you can use one vault for payroll data and another

vault for customer data.

Configure a vault in the following tabs of the Vault dialog box:

■ “Vault attributes tab” on page 84

■ “Retention mappings tab” on page 87

Vault attributes tab

Use the Vault Attributes tab in the Vault dialog box to configure the attributes of

a vault.

If you are configuring a vault in an ACS robot, you also can configure the media

access ports (MAPs) to use for eject operations.

85Configuring Vault

Creating a Vault

The following is an example of the Vault Attributes tab.

Related Topics

■ “ACS MAP overview” on page 119

Best Practices

■ “Vaulting paradigm” on page 37

■ “Preferred vaulting strategies” on page 38

■ “Use precise naming conventions for volume pools and groups” on page 45

Vault dialog box configuration options

The following are the options you can configure in the Vault dialog box:.

Table 5-11 Vault dialog box configuration options


Change For ACS robots only, the button used to configure media access ports for eject

operations. If you click Change, the Media Access Ports dialog box appears, in

which you can add or remove MAPs from the Media Access Ports to Use list.

Containers of Many Media Select if your media is stored in containers at your off-site storage location.

Customer ID Your customer identification if you selected Iron Mountain as your vault vendor.

You may have a separate customer ID for each logical vault.


Creating a Vault

First Off-site Slot ID The ID of the first slot in the off-site vault. This usually is provided by your vault

vendor. Off-site slot IDs are often used by the vault vendor to track media. If your

vendor does not use these identifiers, you can use the default first off-site slot ID

of 1. Off-site slot IDs are unique only within a given vault.

Slot IDs are assigned contiguously from the starting slot number. Ensure that the

number of media in the vault does not exceed the range of slot IDs assigned by the

vault vendor. With every session, Vault starts with the off-site slot ID and counts

upwards, looking for slots that are no longer in use. Vault always fills in the gaps

with newly vaulted media.

If multiple vaults are defined for the same vault vendor, you must divide the range

of assigned slots between the various vaults. For example, if the vault vendor has

assigned the range 1-2000 and you have defined 3 vaults for this vault vendor, then

you can assign range 1-499 to vault 1, 500-999 to vault 2, and 1000-2000 to vault 3,

assuming vault 3 has the maximum number of tapes to vault.

Media Access Ports to Use For ACS robots only, the media access ports (MAPs) to use for media ejection for

the current vault. To select or change MAPs to use, click Change.

A Media Access Ports dialog box appears, in which you can select the MAPs to use.

Off-site Volume Group The name of the off-site volume group. The Off-site Volume Group indicates that

media are in off-site storage. The name should describe the data, the vault vendor,

the vault location, or a combination thereof so you can easily identify the volume

group. Vault moves each piece of ejected media from the Robotic Volume Group

into a standalone volume group (that is, a volume group that is not under the

control of the robot). If the Off-site Volume Group does not exist, it will be created

during the vault session. The off-site volume group name may contain up to 25

characters.

If the off-site volume group does not exist, it will be created during the vault

session.

Robotic Volume Group The name of the volume group associated with the robot for this vault. The Robotic

Volume Group is the group that indicates media resides in a robot. Usually,

NetBackup creates a robotic volume group when media are added to a robot. A

robotic library can contain volumes from more than one volume group, so a robot

can have more than one robotic volume group name associated with it.

Slots for Individual Media Select if your media is stored in slots at your off-site storage location. If you select

slots, you must complete the First Off-site Slot ID field.

Table 5-11 Vault dialog box configuration options (continued)


87Configuring Vault

Creating a Vault

Retention mappings tab

Vault-specific retention mappings.

Use the Retention Mappings tab in the Vault dialog box to configure alternative

retentions for a specific vault.

To configure retention mappings for all vaults, see the Vault Management

Properties dialog box “Retention mappings tab” on page 79.)

When you open the Vault dialog box Retention Mappings tab, the Use retention

mappings from Vault Management Properties is selected by default, which

populates this tab with the values from the Vault Management Properties dialog

box Retention Mappings tab.

Vault Name The name of the vault. The name should reflect its purpose. For example, if you are

creating a vault primarily to duplicate and vault records from the finance

department, you might call the vault Finance. The vault name may contain up to

25 characters.

Vault names are case sensitive.

Note: Directory names are not case sensitive on Microsoft Windows systems;

therefore, session directories are created in the same

vault\sessions\vault_name directory for two or more vaults that have

names that differ only in case.

Vault Vendor The name of your off-site vault vendor (for example, Iron Mountain). If you select

Iron Mountain, you also can configure Vault to put media lists into a file formatted

in compliance with Iron Mountain’s electronic processing specification. You can

then send this file to Iron Mountain for electronic processing of the media lists.

For more information about configuring Vault for Iron Mountain electronic

processing, see “Reports tab” on page 124.

Table 5-11 Vault dialog box configuration options (continued)



Creating a profile

The following is an example of the Vault dialog box Retention Mappings tab.

To configure vault-specific retention mappings

1 If Use retention mappings from Vault Management Properties is selected,

clear the check box by clicking it.

2 Left-click in the field you want to change in the Vault Retention Level

column.

3 Select a retention level from the drop-down list.

4 Repeat for each level you want to change.

5 Click OK.

Related Topics

■ “Retention mappings overview” on page 80


Creating a profileAfter you configure vaults, you can create and configure profiles. Use the Profile

dialog box to configure profiles.

89Configuring Vault

Creating a profile

Profile dialog boxA Vault profile is a template for a vault job; it contains the rules for selecting,

duplicating, and ejecting media. A profile is associated with a specific vault, and

at least one profile must exist for every vault. A vault can contain multiple

profiles, although two profiles within the same vault cannot run simultaneously.

Two different profiles can run simultaneously if each profile is in a different

vault and if each profile uses a different off-site volume pool.

All profiles select images (that is, Choose Backups). You must select at least one

of the following steps when you create a new Vault profile:

■ Duplication

■ Catalog Backup

■ Eject

The other steps are optional so you can separate the Vault tasks into separate

jobs if desired, using different jobs to accomplish different tasks. For example,

you can use one job to select and duplicate images daily, and another job to eject

media and generate reports weekly.

You can select or deselect any of these steps at any time during the

configuration process.

After you create a profile, use a Vault policy to schedule when it should run.

Related Topics

■ “Scheduling a Vault session” on page 130

The number of profiles requiredThe number of profiles required depends on your operations. If you have more

than one Vault, you will have more than one profile. If you have only one vault

and:

■ duplicate and eject media on a regular schedule (such as daily or weekly),

you may require only one profile.

■ duplicate images daily and eject weekly, you require two profiles, one to

duplicate and one to eject media and generate reports.

■ Vault original images, you may require only one profile to choose backups,

eject media, and generate reports.

Symantec recommends that you do your duplication with as few Vault jobs as

possible.

See “Maximize drive utilization during duplication” on page 58.


Configuring a profile

How to create a profile

To create a profile

1 Highlight a vault in the NetBackup Administration Console. From the

Actions menu, choose New > New Profile.

The New Profile dialog box appears.

2 In the Name field, type a name for the profile. Symantec recommends that

you use descriptive names. Profile names are case sensitive.

3 Select the steps you want this profile to perform.

You must select at least one step. However, you can change the selections

when you configure the profile. Because you must always configure the

choose backups step, it is not displayed on this dialog box.

4 Click OK.

The New Profile: profile name dialog box appears.

Configuring a profileAfter you create a profile, the New Profile: profile name dialog box appears. The

New Profile dialog box includes the following five tabs:

■ The Choose Backups tab is where you specify the criteria for selecting

backup images.

■ The Duplication tab is where you configure duplication of the selected

backup images.

■ The Catalog Backup tab is where you choose which catalog backup policy

and schedule to use for creating a Vault catalog backup. For efficient disaster

recovery, you should vault a new catalog backup each time you vault data.

91Configuring Vault


■ The Eject tab is where you choose in which off-site volume pools Vault

should look for the media you want to eject.

■ The Reports tab is where you choose which reports to generate.

A profile must select images (Choose Backups). The other steps are optional so

you can separate the tasks into separate jobs if desired, using different jobs to

accomplish different tasks. For example, you can use one profile to select and

duplicate images daily, and another profile to eject media and generate reports

weekly.

To configure a profile

1 If the Profile dialog box is not displayed, highlight a profile in the NetBackup

Administration Console window and select the Change icon in the toolbar.

2 Select the tab for each step that you are configuring and complete the fields.

3 When finished, click OK.



Choose backups tab Use the Choose Backups tab to configure the search for images to be vaulted.

The most basic criterion you can set is the time frame. To refine the search for

images to vault, you can select Attribute and Location to configure the advanced

options. The default setting of these two criteria, is for the check boxes to be

unselected, which means all criteria in that particular field will be included in

the search for an image to vault. The criteria contained in the Attribute field are

logical criteria to help you refine your search. The criteria contained in the

Location field represent physical locations of the images to backup.

Vault compares images in the NetBackup database with the criteria defined in

the Choose Backups tab and generates a list of images that match the criteria.

The image selection process chooses all images in the NetBackup catalog that

match the criteria that you select under Attribute and Location, even images

that are in a different vault. The criteria that you specify on the other tabs in the

Profile dialog box determine whether Vault includes or excludes the images that

are selected.

The Choose Backups tab enables you to quickly configure how you select criteria

for your profile. For the most broad search coverage, you should leave the

Attribute and Location check boxes empty and in their default state. This will

include all criteria in your profile. Or, you can refine your search using only

criteria from the Attribute field, or search physical locations by using the

criteria in the Location field. Finally, you can choose to restrict your search to

cover very specific areas by utilizing various criteria in the Attribute and the

Location fields.

The image selection process may select catalog backup images; however, if you

are duplicating images, Vault does not duplicate existing catalog images. Vault

ejects the media on which those images reside if that media is assigned to a

volume pool that is listed in the Off-site Volume Pools list on the Eject tab.

93Configuring Vault


The following is an example of the Choose Backups tab:

Topics

■ “Choose backups tab configuration options” on page 93

Related Topics

■ “The list of images to be vaulted” on page 138

Best Practices

■ “Overlap the time window in the profile” on page 40

Choose backups tab configuration options

The following are the options you can configure in the Choose Backups tab:

Table 5-12 Choose Backups tab configuration options


Attribute A filter enabling you to choose which logical attributes you want to use when

searching for an image to vault. By default, if the check box is not checked, all

criteria in this field are included in the search.

Backup Policies A list of policies to use to select backup images. Enabled if you select this criteria in

the Attribute field, or by default if the Attribute check box is not checked.

To change the backup policies, click Change then choose the backup policies you

want to include in the profile. Policies are based on the storage unit used for

backups; because storage units are related to a specific robot number, choose the

policies by robotic device.



Backups Started The period of time from which the profile will select backups relative to the start

time of the session.

Time is expressed in terms of days and hours, relative to the time of the session.

For example, assume the following settings:

between 8 day(s) 0 hour(s) ago

and 1 day(s) 0 hour(s) ago

If the session is started on October 12 at 1:00 pm, count backwards from October

12. The vaulted backups will be those started between October 4 at 1:00 pm (8 days

before) and October 11 at 1:00 pm (1 day before).

If you are selecting original backup images to send off site, the default time range

is between 8 days and 1 day before the session runs; if you are duplicating images,

the default time range is between 7 and 0 days.

Basic disks A list of basic disk paths, in the form of <server>:<path>. Selecting Basic disks

refines your search to those paths that are selected. An image will be selected for

duplication or vaulting if its primary copy resides in any of the selected basic disk

paths.

Note: An individual basic disk from this list would also display the storage unit

name in parenthesis, for example, <server>:<path> (storage unit).

Enabled if you select this criteria in the Location field, or by default if the Location

check box is not checked. To change the basic disks, click Change then choose the

basic disks that you want to include in this profile. By default, the Include all basic

disks is selected.

An image will be selected for duplication or vaulting if its primary copy resides in

any of the specified basic disks.

Change Button used to display a dialog box to change any of the criteria selected in the

Attribute or Location fields.

Clients The clients for which to select backup images. Enabled if you select this criteria in

the Attribute field, or by default if the Attribute check box is not checked.

To change the clients, click Change then choose the clients you want to include in

this profile.

Table 5-12 Choose Backups tab configuration options (continued)


95Configuring Vault


Disk pools A list of disk pools that you can choose search for an image to duplicate or vault.

Enabled if you select this criteria in the Location field, or by default if the Location

check box is not checked. To change the disk pools, click Change then choose disk

pools that you want to include in this profile. By default, the Include all disk pools

is selected.

An image will be selected for duplication or vaulting if its primary copy resides in

any of the specified disk pools.

Note: An individual disk pool from this list would also display the storage unit

name in parenthesis, for example, “disk pool (storage unit)”.

Location A filter enabling you to choose which physical location you want to search for an

image to vault. By default, if the check box is not checked, all criteria in this field

are included in the search.

Media servers Applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.

The media servers from which to select backup images. Enabled if you select this

criteria in the Attribute field, or by default if the Attribute check box is not

checked.

To change the media servers, click Change then choose the media servers you want

to include in this profile.

Retention levels A list of retention levels that you can use to further refine your search criteria. An

image would be selected for duplication or vaulting if the retention level of the

primary copy matches any of the values selected in the list.

Enabled if you select this criteria in the Attribute field, or by default if the

Attribute check box is not checked.

To change the retention level, click Change then choose the level or levels that you

want to include in this profile. By default, the Include all retention levels is

selected.

Schedules A list of schedules to use to select backups. Enabled if you select this criteria in the

Attribute field, or by default if the Attribute check box is not checked.

To change the default, click Change then choose the schedules you want to include

in this profile. Schedules are based on the storage unit used for backups; because

storage units are related to a specific robot number, choose the schedules by

robotic device.





Source Volume Groups This selection criterion contains a list of Volume Groups from which to select

backup images. Enabled if you select this criteria in the Location field, or by

default if the Location check box is not checked. To change the default, click

Change then choose the volume groups you want to include in this profile.

Selecting Source Volume Groups restricts the search for images to those in either

all volume groups or the specific volume groups that you choose to include in your

search. Usually, a Source Volume Group is specified if your master server has

access to multiple robots and you want to duplicate images that reside on media in

one robot to media in another robot. The images that are read are in the Source

Volume Group in one robot; the images are written to media in the Robotic Volume

Group in another robot.

An image will be selected for duplication or vaulting if any fragment of its primary

copy is found in a media that is from any of the selected volume groups.

Note: If you want to exclude all tape images from this profile, then you should

select the Exclude All check box. This would mean there would be no effect of the

selection from “ Volume Pools” criterion as both of them apply to tape images. So,

if you select “Exclude All” for “source volume groups” it would automatically mean

“Exclude All” for “volume pools” as well.

Backup Types The types of backups (full, incremental, and so on) the profile will capture. Enabled

if you select this criteria in the Attribute field, or by default if the Attribute check

box is not checked.

To change the default, click Change then choose the backup types you want to

include in this profile. Depending on the different types of backups you have

configured in NetBackup policy management, you can choose the backup type.

Only those types for which you have configured policies will be available for

selection. If you want to vault all types of backups, accept the default. This is an

optional criterion.



97Configuring Vault


Volume pools A list of volume pools that you can choose to include in your search for an image to

duplicate or vault. Enabled if you select this criteria in the Location field, or by

default if the Location check box is not checked. To change the volume pools, click

Change then choose the volume pool or pool s that you want to include in this

profile. By default, the Include all Volume pools is selected. To change the default,

click Change then choose the volume pools you want to include in this profile.

Selecting Volume pools restricts the search for images to those in either all volume

pools or just the volume pools that you choose to include in your search. An image

will be selected for duplication or vaulting if any fragment of its primary copy is

found in a media that is from any of the selected volume pools.

Note: If you want to exclude all tape images from this profile, then you should

select “Exclude All” check box. This would mean there would be no effect of the

selection from “Source Volume Groups” criterion as both of them apply to tape

images. So, if you select “Exclude All” for “volume pools” then it would

automatically mean “Exclude All” for “Source Volume Groups” as well.





Duplication tabUse the Duplication tab of the Profile dialog box to configure the rules used to

duplicate images and to configure other duplication attributes. A duplication

rule specifies the number of copies to create, a storage unit, off-site volume pool,

retention period, media server (advanced configuration only), and what to do if

an image copy fails (multiple copies only).

Duplication is optional; if you create multiple original backup copies

concurrently during a backup job and vault one of the originals, you do not need

to duplicate images in Vault.

The following shows the basic Duplication tab:

Prerequisites

■ Create one or more dedicated off-site volume pools. See “Off-site volume

pools” on page 63.

Topics

■ “The primary backup copy” on page 99

■ “Basic duplication” on page 99

■ “Advanced duplication” on page 100

■ “Duplication tab configuration options” on page 102

■ “Multiple copies dialog box” on page 106

■ “Duplication Rule dialog box” on page 108

99Configuring Vault


■ “Treatment of images without corresponding duplication rule” on page 112

Best Practices

■ “Avoid resource contention during duplication” on page 47

■ “Avoid sending duplicates over the network” on page 53

■ “Increase duplication throughput” on page 56

■ “Maximize drive utilization during duplication” on page 58

The primary backup copy

NetBackup assigns an ordinal number to each copy of a backup image written by

a backup policy; that number designates its sequence of creation. NetBackup

also designates one of the backup images as the primary backup copy. The first

backup image created successfully by a NetBackup policy is the primary backup;

if only one copy of a backup image is created, it is the primary copy. NetBackup

uses the primary copy to satisfy restore requests.

Usually, Vault duplicates from the primary copy, whether it exists on disk or

removable media. Exception: for improved performance, Vault will duplicate

from a nonprimary copy on disk if one exists and the primary copy is on

removable media.

Because both NetBackup and Vault use the primary copy, in most circumstances

if a primary copy is on removable media it should remain in a robot. If the

primary copy is off site, you cannot duplicate the image until the media is

injected into the robot or a local copy (if available) is promoted to primary.

(Exception: Vault will duplicate from a nonprimary copy on disk if one exists.)

If you send the primary copy off site and you duplicate images in Vault, you can

designate one of the copies that remains in the robot as the primary copy.

When the primary copy expires, NetBackup automatically promotes the backup

copy that has the lowest number to primary.

Best Practices

■ “Designate a primary copy and keep it on site” on page 45

Basic duplication

In basic duplication, you specify only one duplication rule. All backups are

duplicated according to the same rule, and all selected images controlled by the

specified master server are duplicated. You can create multiple copies of each

backup image concurrently, but they are created using the same duplication

rule.



Advanced duplication

Note: Alternate read servers and multiple media servers apply to NetBackup

Enterprise Server only.

Advanced duplication lets you specify more than one duplication rule. Vault

determines which media server wrote each backup image and then applies the

duplication rule corresponding to that media server to that image. In this

context, the media server does not have any effect other than to identify which

rule to apply to each image.

If a duplication rule does not specify an alternate read server, the media server

that originally wrote the backup image will be used to read the original backup

image during the duplication process.

Use advanced configuration only if you need to control exactly how to assign the

backup images to be duplicated. The following may help you understand why to

use advanced configuration:

■ Your robot has different types of drives or media so that you have different

storage units to use as destinations for the duplication process. In this case,

you may want to balance the duplication job between multiple storage units.

For example, you may want to send the duplicate copies of all backup images

written by one media server to a storage unit of one density and all backup

images written by another media server to a storage unit of another density.

■ Your profile is duplicating backup images to different media servers, each

writing different types of data that require different retention periods. For

example, if media server A backs up your customer database and media

server B backs up warehouse inventory data, you may want to keep your

customer database in off-site storage for a longer period of time (a different

retention) than your warehouse inventory data.

■ You have one media server that you need reserved for other operations. For

example, you use multiple media servers for duplication but dedicate one

media server for backups. For that one media server you would specify an

alternate read server, and you would let the rest of the media servers handle

their own duplication.

Note: You do not need to configure advanced options if your profile duplicates

images backed up by a single media server.

To avoid sending data over the network, do the following:

101Configuring Vault


■ For each duplication rule that does not specify an alternate read server,

ensure that the media server controls both the source volumes and the

destination storage units.

■ For each duplication rule that specifies an alternate read server, ensure that:

■ The alternate read server is connected to all robots that have backup

images written by the media server specified for this rule.

■ The alternate read server is the same server as the media server of the

destination storage unit.

The following shows the Duplication tab when Advanced Configuration has been

selected:



Duplication tab configuration options

Table 5-13 describes configuration options for the Duplication tab.

Table 5-13 Duplication tab configuration options


Alternate Read Server Applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.

The name of an alternate read server. If robots (or drives) are shared by more

than one media server, you can designate a different media server to read the

original backups than the media server that wrote the backups. Using an

alternate read server may transfer data over your network, affecting your site’s

computing environment. The Source Media Server and Alternate Read Server

may be the same.

By default this option is disabled. To configure an alternate read server, select

Alternate Read Server then select a media server from the drop-down menu (or

for advanced duplication, click New to configure duplication rules).

Change For advanced configuration only, the button used to display the Duplication Rule

dialog box so you can change a destination media server and duplication rules

for that server.

If you selected Alternate Read Server on the Duplication tab, the Duplication

Rule dialog box will have fields for both Source Media Server and Alternate Read

Server. If you did not select Alternate Read Server, only a Source Backup Server

field appears.

Configure For basic duplication only, the button used to display the Multiple copies dialog

box.

Delete For advanced configuration only, the button used to delete the selected

destination media server and duplication rules for that server.

Duplicate Smaller Images First Select to duplicate images in smallest to largest order.

By default, Vault duplicates images from largest to smallest, which improves

tape drive utilization during duplication and duplicates more data sooner. If you

know that your most important data is in smaller backup images, you can select

this option so that those images are duplicated before the larger images.

This choice does not affect the total time required to duplicate the images.



Duplication Job Priority The priority to assign to the Vault duplication jobs, from 0 to 99999. A larger

number is higher priority. All duplication jobs for the profile run at the same

priority.

Vault duplication jobs compete with other process in NetBackup (such as

regularly scheduled backups) for resources, including tape drives. If you want

your Vault duplication jobs to obtain resources before other processes, assign a

higher priority to the Vault jobs than to other NetBackup processes. Priority for

backups, restores, and synthetic backups is assigned in the master server Global

Properties.

Expire Original Disk Backup

Images

The delay (in hours) until duplicated backup images become eligible to expire

after the Vault session runs (applies only if the backup images are on disk).

You can use this option to set an earlier time for the images to become eligible to

expire, however, the imageDB cleanup process performs the expiration of eligible

images as a separate operation. The imageDB cleanup process is run every 12

hours by default. You can change this default value using the Image DB Cleanup

Interval option on the "Cleanup" node of Master Server Host Properties on the

NetBackup Administation Console or the bpconfig –cleanup_int command. Refer

to the NetBackup Commands document for more information about this

command.

If the duplication of a disk image is not successful, the disk image will not be

expired. In addition, if the number of hours (X) equals zero, then the images will

be expired immediately after a successful Vault duplication occurs.

Make This Copy Primary Whether the copy should be designated the primary backup. Only designate a

duplicate as the primary if the primary backup is ejected and transferred off site.

NetBackup restores from the primary backup, and Vault duplicates from the

primary backup. By default, the original backup image created during a

NetBackup policy job is the primary copy. If the copy that you indicate as

primary fails, and you have configured continue as the fail option, the first

successful copy is the primary copy.

Media Owner The name of the owner of the media onto which you are duplicating images.

Specify the media owner from the drop-down list box, as follows:

■ Any, which is the default, lets NetBackup choose the media owner.

NetBackup chooses a media server or a server group (if one is configured).

■ None specifies that the media server that writes the image to the media

owns the media. No media server is specified explicitly, but you want a

media server to own the media.

■ A server group. Specify a server group. A server group allows only those

servers in the group to write to the media on which backup images for this

policy are written. All server groups that are configured in the NetBackup

environment appear in the drop-down list.

Table 5-13 Duplication tab configuration options (continued)




Multiple Copies Whether to create multiple copies concurrently. You can select Multiple Copies if

the master server properties allow it. If you select Multiple Copies, click

Configure to display the Multiple copies dialog box. If you configure multiple

copies, you cannot configure a Storage Unit, Volume Pool, Retention Level, or

Primary Copy on the basic Duplication tab.

New For advanced configuration only, the button used to display the Duplication Rule

dialog box, in which you can add a destination media server and duplication

rules for that server.

If you selected Alternate Read Server on the Duplication tab, the Duplication

Rule dialog box will have fields for both Source Media Server and Alternate

Read Server. If you did not select Alternate Read Server, only a Source Backup

Server field appears.

Number of Read Drives The number of drives to use for reading backup images. When you enter a

number of read drives, the same number will be entered into the Destination

Write Drives field. You must have an equivalent number of read and write drives

available.

Preserve Multiplexing Whether to preserve multiplexing. Multiplexing is the process of sending

concurrent-multiple backup images from one or more clients to the same piece of

media. This process speeds up duplication, but slows down restores and disaster

recovery processes. If the option to preserve multiplexing is selected, the

multiplexed duplication process will occur for all multiplexed images that are

selected for duplication during a given Vault session.

If the source image is multiplexed and the Preserve Multiplexing option is

selected, ensure that the destination storage unit configured for each copy has

multiplexing enabled. Multiplexing is configured in NetBackup Management >

Storage Units.

Multiplexing does not apply to disk storage units or disk staging storage units as

destinations. However, if the source is a multiplexed tape and the destination is a

disk storage unit or disk staging storage unit, selecting Preserve Multiplexing

ensures that the tape is read on one pass rather than multiple passes.





Retention Level The retention level for the copy. Each copy has a separate expiration date. If a

retention level is not specified, the expiration date will be the same as the

original. If you specify a numeric retention level, the expiration date for the

duplicate media is calculated by adding the specified retention period to the date

the original backup was created. If you specify Use Mappings for the retention

level, the retention period is based on the retention period of backup image copy

1

For more information, see “Assigning multiple retentions with one profile” on

page 156.

When the retention period expires, information about the expired backup will be

deleted from the NetBackup and Media Manager catalog, the volume will be

recalled from off-site storage, and the backup image will be unavailable for a

restore.

Skip the Duplication Step Select if you do not want to configure duplication.

Source Backups Reside On The location of the backup images: disk or removable media or both. Vault will

duplicate images from the primary backup images on removable media or from

backup images on disk.

Storage Unit The name of a storage unit that contains the resources to which the copies of the

backup images will be written.

Storage units can be Media Manager storage units, disk storage units, disk

staging storage units, or Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) storage

units.

If the Media Manager or NDMP storage unit has more than one drive, the source

and destination storage units can be the same. NDMP storage units are

supported only when one copy is created per duplication rule. Because of

potential NDMP performance limitations, Symantec suggests that you duplicate

between drives that are directly attached to the same NDMP host.

If the duplicated backup images are to be vaulted, the media in the destination

storage unit must be in the Robotic Volume Group.

All storage units must be connected to the same media server.

Volume Pool The name of the off-site volume pool to which Vault assigns the duplicate media.

Images on media in the off-site volume pool will be ejected for transfer off-site.

Do not use the volume pool that was used for the original backup; NetBackup

does not verify in advance that the media ID selected for the duplicate copy is

different than the media that contains the original backup. To ensure that two

processes do not try to use the same volume at the same time, specify a different

volume pool.

Write Drives The number of write drives. This value is the same as the number of read drives.





Multiple copies dialog box

The Multiple Copies dialog box appears only if you select the Multiple Copies

checkbox on the basic Duplication tab and then click Configure.

Use this dialog box to create multiple copies of a backup image concurrently.

The following table describes configuration options for the Multiple Copies

dialog box.

Table 5-14 Multiple Copies dialog box configuration options


Copies The number of copies to create concurrently. You can create up to 4 or the

number of copies specified in the Maximum Backup Copies field for the

NetBackup master server (if less than 4). (Configured in NetBackup

Management > Host Properties > Master Server > server_name > Global

NetBackup Attributes.) By default, the value is two: one original backup and

one copy.



For Each Image, If This Copy

Fails

The action to perform if a copy fails: Continue or Fail All Copies.

In Vault, if you choose Fail All Copies, all copies of that image will fail,

independent of the success or failure of other image copy operations. The next

time the Vault profile runs, Vault will again try to duplicate the image if the

following conditions are true:

■ The image is selected.

■ The Vault profile did not eject the primary backup.

By default, the option is configured to Fail All Copies in Vault.

If you choose Continue for all copies, Vault considers the duplication job

successful if any of the copies succeed. However, it is possible that a copy of the

image may never get vaulted; it is probable that at least one copy will succeed,

but it may not be the copy assigned to the off-site volume pool.

For more information, see “Continue or fail for concurrent copies” on page 178.



■ Any, which is the default, lets NetBackup choose the media owner.

NetBackup chooses a media server or a server group (if one is configured).

■ None specifies that the media server that writes the image to the media

owns the media. No media server is specified explicitly, but you want a

media server to own the media.





Primary Whether the copy should be designated the primary backup. Only designate a

duplicate as the primary if the primary backup is ejected and transferred off

site.


primary backup. By default, the original backup image creating during a




Table 5-14 Multiple Copies dialog box configuration options (continued)




Duplication Rule dialog box

The Duplication Rule dialog box appears if you select New or Change on the

Advanced Configuration options of the Duplication tab. If you selected Alternate

Retention The retention level for the copy. Each copy has a separate expiration date. If a

retention level is not specified, the expiration date will be the same as the

original. If you specify a numeric retention level, the expiration date for the

duplicate media is calculated by adding the specified retention period to the

date the original backup was created. If you specify Use Mappings for the

retention level, the retention period is based on the retention period of backup

image copy 1.


page 156.

When the retention period expires, information about the expired backup will

be deleted from the NetBackup and Media Manager catalogs, the volume will be


restore.

Storage Unit The name of a storage unit that contains the resources to which the copies of

the backup images will be written.

Storage units can be Media Manager storage units, disk storage units, disk

staging storage units, or Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) storage

units.


and destination storage units can be the same. NDMP storage units are

supported only when one copy is created per duplication rule. Because of

potential NDMP performance limitations, Symantec suggests that you

duplicate between drives that are directly attached to the same NDMP host.




Volume Pool The name of the off-site volume pool to which Vault assigns the duplicate

media. Images on media in the off-site volume pool will be ejected for transfer

off-site. Do not use the volume pool that was used for the original backup;

NetBackup does not verify in advance that the media ID selected for the

duplicate copy is different than the media that contains the original backup. To

ensure that two processes do not try to use the same volume at the same time,

specify a different volume pool.


Table 5-14 Multiple Copies dialog box configuration options (continued)




Read Server on the Duplication tab, an Alternate Read Server option appears on

the dialog box.

Use the Duplication Rule dialog box to create multiple copies of an image and to

select different media servers and read servers for the copies.

The following table describes configuration options for the Duplication Rule

dialog box.

Table 5-15 Duplication Rule dialog box configuration options


Alternate Read Server Applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.

The name of an alternate read server.

If robots (or drives) are shared by more than one media server, you can designate a

different media server to read the original backups than the media server that

wrote the backups. Using an alternate read server may transfer data over your

network, affecting your site’s computing environment. The Media Server and

Alternate Read Server may be the same.

To configure an alternate read server, select a media server from the drop-down

menu.

Backup Server Applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.

Appear if Alternate Read Server was not selected on the Duplication tab.

The name of the media server on which the backup images reside.



Copies The number of copies to create concurrently. You can create up to 4 or the number

of copies specified in the Maximum Backup Copies field for the NetBackup master

server (if less than 4). (Configured in NetBackup Management > Host Properties >

Master Server > server_name > Global NetBackup Attributes.) By default, the

value is two: one original backup and one copy.

For Each Image, If This Copy

Fails

The action to perform if a copy fails: Continue or Fail All Copies.


independent of the success or failure of other image copy operations. The next

time the Vault profile runs, Vault will again try to duplicate the image if the

following conditions are true:






image may never get vaulted; it is probable that at least one copy will succeed, but

it may not be the copy assigned to the off-site volume pool.

For more information, see “Continue or fail for concurrent copies” on page 178.



■ Any, which is the default, lets NetBackup choose the media owner. NetBackup

chooses a media server or a server group (if one is configured).

■ None specifies that the media server that writes the image to the media owns

the media. No media server is specified explicitly, but you want a media

server to own the media.





Media Server Applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.

Appears only if Alternate Read Server was selected on the Duplication tab.

The name of the media server on which the backup images reside. The Media

Server and Alternate Read Server may be the same.

Number of Read Drives The number of drives to use for reading backup images. When you enter a number

of read drives, the same number will be entered into the Destination Write Drives

field. You must have an equivalent number of read and write drives available.

Table 5-15 Duplication Rule dialog box configuration options (continued)




Primary Whether the copy should be designated the primary backup. Only designate a

duplicate as the primary if the primary backup is ejected and transferred off site.


primary backup. By default, the original backup image creating during a

NetBackup policy job is the primary copy. If the copy that you indicate as primary

fails, and you have configured continue as the fail option, the first successful copy

is the primary copy.

Retention The retention level for the copy. Each copy has a separate expiration date. If a

retention level is not specified, the expiration date will be the same as the original.

If you specify a numeric retention level, the expiration date for the duplicate

media is calculated by adding the specified retention period to the date the

original backup was created. If you specify Use Mappings for the retention level,

the retention period is based on the retention period of backup image copy 1.


page 156.

When the retention period expires, information about the expired backup will be

deleted from the NetBackup and Media Manager catalog, the volume will be


restore.

Source Backups Reside On The location of the backup images: disk or removable media or both. Vault will

duplicate images from the primary backup images on removable media or from

backup images on disk.

Storage Unit The name of a storage unit that contains the resources to which the copies of the

backup images will be written.

Storage units can be Media Manager storage units, disk storage units, disk staging

storage units, or Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) storage units.


and destination storage units can be the same. NDMP storage units are supported

only when one copy is created per duplication rule. Because of potential NDMP

performance limitations, Symantec suggests that you duplicate between drives

that are directly attached to the same NDMP host.








Treatment of images without corresponding duplication rule

Note: More than one media server applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.

In some cases, the profile may list more media servers in the Media Servers list

on the Choose Backups tab than in the advanced configuration view on the

Duplication tab.

If this happens, images written by media servers that have no corresponding

duplication rule must also be duplicated. Vault will duplicate those images but

will try to minimize total duplication time by keeping as many drives as possible

busy writing data until all images are duplicated. This is handled as follows:

■ All images written by media servers that have a duplication rule are

assigned to the appropriate duplication rule.

■ As soon as one duplication rule has finished processing the images assigned

to it, Vault will begin to assign images written by other media servers (media

servers that have no rule of their own) to the duplication rule that had

finished processing.

Volume Pool The name of the off-site volume pool to which Vault assigns the duplicate media.

Images on media in the off-site volume pool will be ejected for transfer off-site. Do

not use the volume pool that was used for the original backup; NetBackup does not

verify in advance that the media ID selected for the duplicate copy is different

than the media that contains the original backup. To ensure that two processes do

not try to use the same volume at the same time, specify a different volume pool.






■ As other rules complete the duplication of their assigned images, they too

will be assigned images written by other media servers that have no rule of

their own.

■ Eventually all images written by all media servers listed on the Choose

Backups tab will be duplicated and the duplication step will be complete. If

you have more media servers listed on the Choose Backups tab than on the

Duplication tab, there is only one way to ensure that large amounts of

duplication data do not get sent over the network:

■ Every duplication rule must specify an alternate read server. For each

duplication rule, the alternate read server must be the same as the

media server of the destination storage unit(s).

■ All alternate read servers must be connected to all robots that have

images written by any media server listed on the Choose Backups tab

but not on the Duplication tab.

The previous configurations are best suited for a SAN environment where all

media servers are visible to all robots.



Catalog backup tabUse the Profile dialog box Catalog Backup tab to specify the catalog backup

policy and schedule that will perform the Vault catalog backup. At least one

NBU-Catalog policy that includes a Vault Catalog Backup schedule must exist so

you can specify them on the Catalog Backup tab.

Vault uses the online, hot catalog backup method, which can back up the

catalogs even when other NetBackup or Vault activity is occurring. (NetBackup

provides two types of catalog backup; the other type is an offline, cold catalog

backup that cannot occur when regular back up activity is occurring.)

You must add the Vault catalog backup volume pool to the eject list on the Eject

tab.

The following is the Catalog Backup tab:

Prerequisites

■ Create a dedicated off-site volume pool. See “Off-site volume pools” on

page 63.

■ Create a Vault Catalog Backup schedule in an NBU-Catalog policy. See

“Catalog backup schedules for Vault” on page 65.

Topics



■ “Vault catalog backup overview” on page 115

■ “Catalog backup policy settings” on page 116

■ “Critical policies overview” on page 116

■ “Catalog backup tab configuration options” on page 117

Best Practices

■ “Vault NetBackup catalogs” on page 44

Vault catalog backup overview

NetBackup catalogs are databases that contain information about the

NetBackup configuration and backups, including the files backed up and the

media on which they are stored. Vault creates a new catalog backup with

up-to-date information, it does not duplicate an existing NetBackup catalog

backup. A NetBackup catalog backup is not a substitute for a Vault catalog

backup because it does not include the latest information about duplicated

media and media location. Therefore, you should perform the catalog backup

step in Vault.

To perform a Vault catalog backup, Vault uses a special schedule of type Vault

Catalog Backup in an NBU-Catalog policy. (NetBackup uses a special backup

policy of type NBU-Catalog to perform catalog backups.)

A Vault catalog backup occurs when a profile that performs catalog backup

runs; it does not occur on the schedule defined in the NBU-Catalog policy. A

Vault Catalog Backup schedule always performs a full backup of the entire

NetBackup catalog.

You can create multiple copies concurrently of a Vault catalog backup.

Vault will not duplicate existing catalog images, but it will eject the media on

which those images are stored if both of the following are true:

■ Those images are selected during the choose backups step.

■ The media is assigned to the dedicated Vault catalog volume pool.

If the catalog backup step fails but the remainder of the Vault job succeeds, the

session will end with a status 294 (vault catalog backup failed). Data will be

vaulted with no associated catalog backup. Symantec believes that it is better to

vault the data without a catalog backup than to fail the job and vault nothing at

all for that session.

The Recovery Report for Vault shows the three most recent Vault catalog

backups. If you vault your regular NetBackup catalog backups, they will not

appear on the Recovery Report but will appear on other reports.



For information about the location of the NetBackup catalog and the files

included in a catalog backup, see the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume

I.

Catalog backup policy settings

Although you configure only two options on the Catalog Backup tab, settings in

the catalog backup policy affect the Vault catalog:

■ Job priority. The catalog backup job competes for resources with other

backup jobs. You can specified the priority for the job, either on the policy

Attributes tab (single catalog backup) or on the Configure Multiple Copies

dialog box of the Vault Catalog Backup schedule.

■ Destination. You can send the catalog backup to any storage unit, including

disk and removable media storage units. Specify the destination in the Vault

Catalog Backup schedule.

■ Volume pool. If you use removable media storage units, you must specify a

volume pool for the catalog backup in the Vault Catalog Backup schedule.

You also must specify the same volume pool on the Eject tab of the profile.

■ Number of copies. You can create multiple copies of the catalog, and you can

send them to any storage unit that is attached to the destination media

server. Specify multiple copies on the Vault Catalog Backup schedule

Attributes tab and then specify the number of copies on the Configure

Multiple Copies dialog box.

■ Critical policies. Beginning with NetBackup 6.0, you do not specify the

catalog files to include in the Vault catalog backup, and you cannot add

other files to the catalog backup. A new NetBackup catalog policy option,

critical policies, lets you select policies that should be recovered before

backups from other policies are recovered. Specify critical policies on the

policy Disaster Recovery tab.

Critical policies overview

A new NetBackup catalog policy option, critical policies, lets you select policies

that should be recovered before backups from other policies are recovered. The

media that contains the backup images from those critical policies are listed in

the new NetBackup disaster recovery report. (Vault does not include critical

policy data in its catalog backups.)

The media from those critical policies also will be listed in the Vault Recovery

Report so you can recall the media from those policies and recover that data

before you recover data that is not as critical.



You can even recover the critical policies data before you recover the entire

catalog. During catalog recovery, partial recovery of the catalog is possible.

Partial recovery means you can choose which parts of the catalog backup to

restore and in what order. Partial recovery lets you restore part of the catalog,

then restore data from critical policies, and finally restore the remainder of the

catalog.

If you want to include certain critical policies in your Vault catalog backup but

not your regular NetBackup catalog backup, you need a separate NBU-Catalog

policy for Vault.

For information about specifying critical policies in an NBU-Catalog policy, see

the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I.

Catalog backup tab configuration options

The following are the configuration options for the Catalog Backup tab:

Table 5-16 Catalog Backup tab configuration options


Catalog Backup Policy The catalog backup policy to use.

The drop-down list includes all catalog backup policies that have a Vault Catalog

Backup schedule.

Vault Catalog Backup

Schedule

The schedules available for the catalog backup policy.

The drop-down list includes all Vault Catalog Backup schedules for the policy

selected in Catalog Backup Policy field.

Skip the Catalog Backup Step Select if you do not want to back up and vault the NetBackup and Media Manager

catalogs.



Eject tabUse the Profile dialog box Eject tab to specify the:

■ Volume pools from which to eject media.

■ Suspend option. By default, Vault suspends media when it is ejected. Vault

only suspends the volumes in volume pools specified in the off-site volume

pools list.

■ When to eject the media (immediately when the profile runs or later).

■ E-mail addresses for eject notification.

If you create catalog backup media in a profile in which you eject media, you

must add the appropriate catalog volume pool to the off-site volume pools eject

list.

If you eject media from Veritas Storage Migrator (VSM), you must add the VSM

volume pool to the VSM media eject list.

The following is the Eject tab of the Profile dialog box.

Topics

■ “Media ejection overview” on page 119


■ “Eject mode (Immediate or deferred)” on page 120

■ “Media ejection timeout impact” on page 121



■ “Eject tab configuration options” on page 122

Related Topics

■ “Ejecting media” on page 140

Best Practices

■ “Specify robotic volume group when configuring a Vault” on page 41


■ “Suspend vaulted media” on page 46


Media ejection overview

During media ejection operations, Vault moves the media to be ejected into the

default media access port (MAP) of the robotic library. You must extend the

MAP, remove the media, and then retract the MAP. If more media will be ejected,

Vault will continue to fill the MAP until all media are ejected. For libraries that

have separate MAP doors such as libraries connected via pass-through

mechanisms, all doors are treated as one continuous MAP by NetBackup. In

other words, each time you are prompted by NetBackup, open all the doors,

empty all the MAPs, and then close all the doors.

For ACS robots that have multiple MAPs, you can specify the MAPs to eject

media to when you configure the robot in Vault.

If you use a library that does not have a MAP, you must remove the media from

the library slots manually. You also have to perform the eject operation in Vault

so that the appropriate database entries are completed. Although you can use

automatic eject, Symantec recommends that you use deferred eject so you avoid

resource contention with other NBU activity and you do not neglect to remove

the media from the robot (the manual eject operation serves as a reminder to

remove the media). To use deferred eject for a library that does not have a MAP,

do the following:

■ Configure the profiles for deferred eject.

■ Eject the media manually.

See “Ejecting media” on page 140.

■ Remove the media from the library slots.

Do not inventory the robot until you remove the media from the MAP or library

slots. If you do, you will have to revault the media.

ACS MAP overview

Applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server only.



Automated cartridge system (ACS) robots can have multiple library storage

modules (LSMs), each with multiple media access ports (MAPs). When you

configure a vault that uses an ACS robot, you can specify any MAP or a subset of

MAPs to be used for media ejection. Vault will eject media to as few of the

configured MAPs as possible based on a nearest MAP algorithm. The algorithm

considers the volumes to be ejected, the MAPs configured for ejecting in the

vault, and the configuration of the LSMs. The algorithm assumes that the LSMs

are connected in a line; if your LSMs are connected in a configuration other than

a line, see “Adjacent LSM Specification for ACS Robots” and “Media Access Port

Default for ACS Robots” in the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide.

Any MAP does not mean all MAPs; media will not be ejected to all MAPs, media

will be ejected to the nearest MAP in each LSM. If you specify any MAP:

■ MAPs that have only one element will not be used.

■ Vault will choose from MAPs that are on-line when the eject begins; MAPs

that are off-line are not considered for eject operations.

■ If only a subset of MAPs are used during ejection, all MAPs will be busy and

unavailable (for example, if the media are ejected to only two MAPs in one

LSM, all MAPs will still be busy).

For all other robot types that have MAPs, media are ejected to the default MAP.

NetBackup does not support ejecting to multiple MAPs for other robot types.

Eject mode (Immediate or deferred)

You can eject media immediately when the profile runs or defer ejection until

later. If you use one profile to choose and duplicate images daily and another

profile to eject the media, you should specify deferred eject for the profile that

selects and duplicates images and immediate eject for the profile that ejects

media. If you defer eject, you should also defer reports.

If you select deferred eject, other actions are required to eject the media for the

session. The following are the methods you can use to eject media after the

session has ended:

■ Eject for one session only, as follows:

■ Use the NetBackup Administration Console to eject media for the

session.

■ Use the Vault Operator Menu to eject media for the session.

■ Use the vlteject command to eject media for the session.

■ Create a Vault policy and enter the appropriate vlteject command

and options in the file list.

■ Eject for multiple sessions for a specific profile, as follows:



■ Configure a Vault profile to duplicate only, and configure a Vault policy

to run this profile on the days you want to select and duplicate images.

■ Configure a second Vault profile to do the catalog backup and eject

steps. This profile should use the same image selection criteria as the

profile that duplicates images. Configure a Vault policy to run this

profile on the day you want the media ejected.

This method for duplicating and ejecting media provides the added benefit

of consolidated reports that are not organized by session.

■ Eject for all sessions for a specific vault or for all sessions for all vaults

(consolidated eject) by doing one of the following:

■ Use the NetBackup Administration Console.

■ Use the Vault Operator Menu.

■ Use the vlteject command.

■ Create a Vault policy and enter the appropriate vlteject command

and options in the file list.

If you defer eject operations, you should also defer reports until you eject media.

Media ejection timeout impact

The media ejection timeout period is the amount of time the eject process will

wait for the removal of the ejected media from the media access port (MAP)

before an error condition occurs. The timeout period varies depending on the

capability of each robot. The following table shows the ejection timeout periods

for robots.

For robots that do not have timeout periods or do not have MAPs, select deferred

eject and then eject the media manually. When you eject the media, ensure that

Table 5-17 Media ejection timeout period for Vault

Robot Timeout period Note

Automated Cartridge System (ACS) One week Applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server

only

Tape Library 8MM (TL8) One week

Tape Library DLT (TLD) One week

Tape Library Half-inch (TLH) None Applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server

only

Tape Library Multimedia (TLM) One week Applies to NetBackup Enterprise Server

only

Robots that do not have MAPs None



the media are removed from the library in a timely manner so that other

operations can occur.

Status messages displayed by the NetBackup Administration Console or on the

command line provide information about the status of inject, eject, or inventory

operations.

Caution: If media are not removed and the timeout period expires, the Vault

reports will not accurately show the status of the media. To recover, you should

use the Vault Operator Menu (vltopmenu) or vlteject to eject the media that

was not removed from the library and generate the reports.

Eject tab configuration options

The following are the configuration options for the Eject tab:

Table 5-18 Eject tab configuration options


Add The button used to add a volume pool to the eject list. If you click Add, the Volume

Pools dialog box appears, in which you can add or remove volume pools from the

eject volume pool list.

At Time of Eject (Suspend

this Session’s Media)

Suspend the media when it is ejected. If you also select deferred eject, images can be

written to the media until it is ejected. Select this option if you want the media sent

off-site to be full.

Suspend at time of eject is the default.

Deferred (Eject Mode) Defer media ejection until a later time. The reports that are marked with an asterisk

(*) on the Reports tab are generated only when all media selected by the profile have

been ejected.

Eject Media from additional

(non-NetBackup) Volume

Pools

Select to eject media in VSM volume pools and then add the VSM media volume

pools to the eject list. VSM media must have a return date set by VSM.

Suspend options do not affect VSM media; VSM media are never suspended.

Immediate (Eject Mode) Eject media immediately as part of the current Vault job. The reports that are

marked with an asterisk (*) on the Reports tab are generated only when all media

selected by the profile have been ejected.

Immediately (Suspend this

Session’s Media)

Suspend the media during the current session. No more images will be written to

the media even if ejection is deferred.



Use E-mail Address from

Robot or Vault Management

Properties for Eject

Notification

Select to send the eject notification e-mail to the e-mail addresses configured on the

Vault Robot dialog box or Vault Management Properties dialog box. Eject

notification is sent when the eject process begins and ends.

To send the notification e-mail to different address, enter the e-mail addresses in

the field below the Use E-mail Address... checkbox.





Off-site Volume Pools The names of the volume pools from which to eject media. Only the media in the

pools that contain images that meet the selection criteria are ejected.

If you create catalog backup media in a profile in which you eject media, you must

add the appropriate catalog volume pool to the off-site volume pools eject list.

If you use a vlt_ejectlist_notify script to eject media not created by

NetBackup or Vault, you must add the volume pool in which that media resides to

the Off-site Volume Pools list of the profile that you run to eject that media.

For information about notify scripts, see “Using notify scripts” on page 166.

Skip the Eject Step Select if you do not want to eject media with this profile.

Suspend Media for the Next

Session (Suspend Media on

Which Backups Were

Written)

Select to suspend original backup media, then enter the number of days before the

Vault job to suspend media.

Use this option only if you vault original images and want to prevent NetBackup

from writing partial images on backup media.

You should carefully consider whether to use this option. It uses extra CPU cycles

because it queries all of the databases again and applies all of the Choose Backups

filters again to select media to suspend. Also, this option will not suspend media

that is in use, such as media to which NetBackup is writing backup images.

This option will suspend duplicate media created by Vault; however, the Suspend

this Session’s Media option is a better choice for suspending duplicate media

because it does not use CPU cycles to select media to suspend.

For more information about preventing partial images from being vaulted, see

“Avoid vaulting partial images” on page 42.

Suspend this Session’s

Media

Select to suspend media in the eject list, then select either Immediately or At Time

of Eject.

Suspend at time of eject is the default.

Table 5-18 Eject tab configuration options (continued)




Reports tabUse the Reports tab to select which reports to generate for the profile, where to

distribute them, and when to generate them (immediately when the profile runs

or deferred until later).

You and your off-site storage vendor can use the reports to determine which

media should be moved between your site and the off-site storage location and

the timing of the moves.

Reports can be generated for one session or for multiple sessions (known as

consolidating your reports and ejections).

Note: You must specify a destination so that reports will be generated.

See “Changing report properties” on page 126.

Generating reports is optional.

The following is the Reports tab of the Profile dialog box.

Topics



■ “Report mode (Immediate or deferred)” on page 125

■ “Reports that depend on eject” on page 125

■ “Reports tab configuration options” on page 126

■ “Changing report properties” on page 126

Related Topics

■ “Generating reports” on page 195

■ “Consolidating reports” on page 198



Best Practices


■ “Generate the lost media report regularly” on page 60

Report mode (Immediate or deferred)

Similar to the eject mode, you can specify whether reports should be generated

immediately when the profile runs or deferred until later. If you defer eject, you

should also defer reports. If you defer reports, you must perform or schedule

another action to generate the reports.

Because some reports are generated only when media are ejected, you may

choose to defer reports until the media are ejected. For example, if you duplicate

images daily and eject media weekly, you can defer reports for the profile that

duplicates images and use the profile that ejects media to generate reports.

If the corresponding eject process has been completed when you generate

reports, all pending reports are generated and distributed; those reports will not

be regenerated if you run deferred reports again. If eject has not been

completed, the subset of reports that do not depend on completion of eject will

be generated; those reports will be generated again if deferred reports are run

again.

If you defer reports from multiple sessions and then generate them together, it

is known as consolidating reports.

Reports that depend on eject

The following reports can be generated from the Profile dialog box Reports tab.

Reports marked with an asterisk (*) on the Reports tab are generated only when

all media selected by the profile are ejected. The reports for media coming

on-site are not dependent on the media being ejected before they are generated.

■ Reports for media coming on-site:



■ Picking List for Vault

■ Distribution List for Robot

■ Inventory reports:

■ Vault Inventory

■ Off-site Inventory

■ All Media Inventory)

■ Recovery Report for Vault

Reports tab configuration options

The following are the Reports tab configuration options.

Changing report properties

Use the following procedure to change report properties (title, e-mail

destination, printer to use, and directory to save it to).

Table 5-19 Reports tab configuration options


Deferred Reports Defer generating the reports until after the session has completed (for

example, if you run Vault sessions daily and eject media weekly). Deferred

is the default.

Reports marked with an asterisk (*) are generated only when all media

selected by the profile are ejected.

Immediate Reports Generate the reports immediately as part of the current vault session.

Reports marked with an asterisk (*) are generated only when all media

selected by the profile are ejected.

Iron Mountain FTP File If you selected Iron Mountain as your vault vendor (in the New Vault dialog

box), Iron Mountain FTP file and Destination folder items are displayed.

To generate a file that you can send by FTP to Iron Mountain, select Iron

Mountain FTP file and enter the name or browse to choose the Destination

folder to which the file will be written.

Sending the file to Iron Mountain is not part of the vault process.

Report Header If you want certain text to appear at the top of every report, enter it in the

Report Header box. The header will appear on all reports.

Use Report Settings from Vault

Management Properties

Select to use the report settings configured in the Vault Management

Properties Reports tab.



To change report properties

1 Double-click on a report.

The Change Report Properties dialog box appears.

2 Select options and enter information as necessary.

If you change a title, the new title will be displayed on the Reports tab and in the

Report Type list box when you view Vault reports in the Administration Console.

If you consolidate your reports and also change titles, use the same title for all

profiles whose reports will be consolidated. The title is printed on the reports

and appears in the e-mail subject line if you e-mail the reports.

Chapter 6

Vaulting and managing

media

The following provide information about vaulting and managing media:

■ “Running a Vault session” on page 130

■ “Previewing a Vault session” on page 135

■ “Stopping a Vault session” on page 135

■ “Resuming a Vault session” on page 136

■ “Monitoring a Vault session” on page 136

■ “The list of images to be vaulted” on page 138

■ “Ejecting media” on page 140

■ “Injecting media” on page 146

■ “Using containers” on page 150


■ “Vaulting additional volumes” on page 158

■ “Revaulting unexpired media” on page 160

■ “Tracking volumes not ejected by Vault” on page 162

■ “Vaulting VSM media” on page 163

■ “Vaulting media not created by NetBackup” on page 165

■ “Notifying a tape operator when eject begins” on page 166

■ “Using notify scripts” on page 166

■ “Clearing the media description field” on page 168

■ “Deassigning vaulted NetBackup catalog media” on page 169

130 Vaulting and managing media

Running a Vault session

■ “Restoring data from vaulted media” on page 170

■ “Replacing damaged media” on page 171

Running a Vault sessionA Vault session, or vaulting job, is the process of executing the steps specified in

a Vault profile. Before you can run a Vault session, at least one robot, one vault,

and one profile must be configured.

You can also run a vault session by using the Vault Administration menu

interface (UNIX systems only).

See “Using the Vault administration interface” on page 225.

Scheduling a Vault sessionTo run a vault session automatically at a specific day and time, use a Vault

policy. A Vault policy is a NetBackup policy that is configured to run Vault jobs;

a Vault policy does not back up client systems. The policy includes the schedule

for when the Vault session should run (day or date and time window) and the

command to run a Vault profile.

How you schedule your sessions depends on how you conduct operations:

■ A Vault policy can run a profile that ejects media that contains original

images created during a backup job. If you create multiple original backup

images concurrently, you can assign one or more of the original images to an

off-site volume pool, and a separate Vault policy can run a Vault job that

ejects the media on which those images are stored.

■ A Vault policy can run a profile that selects images, duplicates those images,

and ejects the media on which those images are stored. That policy can

perform both operations daily or at some other interval that meets your

requirements. If your vault vendor arrives daily to pick up media or you

remove the off-site media from your robot immediately, you may need only

one policy for that vault.

■ One Vault policy can run a profile that duplicates images, and another policy

can run a profile that ejects media. For example, if you create backup media

daily and transfer it off site weekly, you can use one policy to create the

backups daily and another policy to eject media weekly. If your vault vendor

transfers your media weekly, you may prefer to eject media on the day the

vault vendor arrives.

Best Practices


131Vaulting and managing media


Creating a Vault policy

Setting up a Vault policy differs from setting up a regular policy in NetBackup:

■ First, you must specify Vault as the policy type.

■ Second, you do not specify clients for Vault policies.

■ Third, rather than specifying files to backup on the Backup Selections tab,

you specify one of two Vault commands to execute, as follows:

■ Use the vltrun command to run a Vault session. You specify the robot,

vault name, and profile for the job. The vltrun command

accomplishes all the steps necessary to vault media. If the profile is

configured for immediate eject, media are ejected and reports are

generated. If the vault profile name is unique, use the following format:

vltrun profile_name

If the vault profile name is not unique, use the following format:

vltrun robot_number/vault_name/profile_name

■ Use the vlteject command to eject media and/or generate reports for

sessions that have been completed already and for which media have

not been ejected. The vlteject command can process the pending

ejects and/or reports for all sessions, for a specific robot, for a specific

vault, or for a specific profile. For example:

vlteject -vault vault_name -eject -report

Caution: Include one Vault command only in a Vault policy. If you use more than

one command, the first command is invoked and the successive commands are

interpreted as parameters to the first command. Failure may occur and images

may not be duplicated or vaulted.

For more information about ejecting media, see “Ejecting media by using a Vault

policy” on page 145.

For more information about the vlteject and vltrun commands, see the

NetBackup Commands for UNIX or NetBackup Commands for Windows manual.

For more information about creating NetBackup policies, see the NetBackup

Administrator’s Guide, Volume I.

Note: If you create a vault policy by copying a regular NetBackup policy that has

a client list configured, delete all the clients in the client list before you run the

policy. If you do not, Vault will create one vault job for every client in the list

even though the client is not used by the Vault job. The first vault job will

operate as a normal vault session; the rest will terminate with a status 275 (a

session is already running for this vault).



To create a Vault policy

1 In the NetBackup Administration window, expand NetBackup Management

> Policies.

2 Click the New Policy button.

The Add a New Policy dialog box appears.

3 Enter a unique name for the new policy in the Add a New Policy dialog box.

4 Click OK.

The Add New Policy dialog box appears.

5 On the Attributes tab, select Vault as the policy type.

6 On the Schedules tab, click New to create a new schedule.

The type of backup defaults to Automatic Vault.

7 Complete the schedule.

8 On the Backup Selections tab, enter the appropriate Vault command for the

policy.

9 Click OK.

Vault policy configuration information

Collect and record the following information for each new schedule/policy pair

you create or existing pair you consider for off-site rotation. The information

you record will be used when you configure Vault and can help you determine if

an existing policy can be used to create backup media that Vault can select for

ejection.

Table 6-20 Policy configuration information


Policy Names The names of all policies used for off-site rotation. To get information about

existing policies, you can use the bppllist command.

Schedule Names The names of the schedule or schedules associated with each policy.

Off-site Original, Duplicate,

or Both

Record whether the policy selects original backup media, creates duplicate backup

media, or both.

Storage Unit The storage units for each policy.

Retention Period The retention period for each schedule so that you will have an idea of when to

expect the media to return from off-site.



Running a session manuallyYou can run a Vault session manually either by using the NetBackup

Administration Console to initiate the session or by invoking the veteran

command from a command line.

Running a session from the administration Console

To run a Vault session from the NetBackup Administration Console, you either

invoke the policy manually or invoke the profile manually.

To invoke a Vault policy

1 Expand NetBackup Management > Policies in the left pane of the

Administration Console window.

2 Select the policy you want to run.

3 Select Actions > Manual Backup.

The policy will be run at that time and also at its scheduled time and date.

To invoke a Vault profile

1 Expand Vault Management in the left pane of the Administration Console

window.

The names of the robots configured for NetBackup appear.

2 In the left pane, expand the robot that contains the vault and profile you

want to run.

3 In the left pane, select the vault that you want to run.

4 In the details (right) pan, click on the profile you want to run.

5 Select Actions > Start Session.

Start Session remains highlighted until the session begins. When the

session starts, the Console displays a message similar to the following:

Manual vault session for profile has been started. Use the Activity Monitor to view progress.

By default, the Details Pane of the Administration Console window does not

show the Volume Pools (Ejected) and Report Destination columns. You can add,

delete, or rearrange the columns displayed in the Details Pane by selecting View

> Columns > Layout.

Running a session from a command line

To run a vault session from a command line, first add the path in which the

NetBackup executable files are installed to your PATH environment variable.



Then, invoke vltrun from a command line, specifying the robot number, vault,

and profile as in the following example:

vltrun robot_number/vault_name/profile_name

Alternatively, you can specify only the profile if it has a unique name.

For information about the vltrun command, see the NetBackup Commands

manual and “Using NetBackup Commands” in the NetBackup Administration

Console help.

Running multiple sessions simultaneouslyMultiple Vault sessions can run at the same time. Vault uses a global setting,

Maximum Vault Jobs, as a threshold for queuing jobs from any vault. A Vault job

runs if resources are available and the maximum number of Vault jobs has not

been reached. If resources are not available to run jobs, Vault queues jobs until

the resources are available.

Vault also uses locks on the duplication and eject steps of a job to enforce

queueing for jobs that are contending for those resources. Vault queues jobs as

follows:

■ If Maximum Vault Jobs is reached, any subsequent vault job is queued and

its status is shown as Queued in the Activity Monitor.

■ If a job needs to duplicate images and another job from the same vault is

duplicating images, the job is queued and shown as Active in the Activity

Monitor. More detailed information about the status of these Active jobs

appears in the Detailed Status tab of the Job Details dialog box.

■ If a job needs to eject media and another job from any vault is ejecting media

in the same robot, the job is queued and shown as Active in the Activity

Monitor.

Queued jobs are scheduled or run when the resources required for them become

available.

For jobs that run simultaneously, some restrictions exist:

■ Vaults should not share on-site and off-site volume pools. Profiles within the

same vault can use the same volume pools, but profiles from one vault

cannot use the same volume pools as profiles from another vault.

■ Vaults should not share off-site volume groups. Profiles within the same

vault can use the same off-site volume groups, but profiles from one vault

cannot use the same off-site volume groups as profiles from another vault.

Related Topics

■ “Detailed Vault job status” on page 138


Previewing a Vault session

Previewing a Vault sessionBefore you run a Vault session, you can preview the session to verify that the

profile selects the appropriate images for off-site storage. To preview a session,

use the vltrun command with the -preview option, specifying the robot

number, vault, and profile as in the following example:

vltrun robot_number/vault_name/profile_name -preview

Alternatively, you can specify only the profile if it has a unique name.

The vltrun -preview option starts a new vault job, performs a search on the

image catalog based on the criteria specified on the profile Choose Backups tab,

writes the names of the images to a preview.list file, and then exits. Vault

does not act on the images selected.

After you run the preview option, examine the preview.list file, which is

located in:

■ UNIX:

/usr/openv/netbackup/vault/sessions/vault_name/sidxxx

■ Windows:

install_path\NetBackup\Vault\sessions\vault_name\sidxxx

Under certain circumstances, the preview.list file may contain more backup

images than will be vaulted:

■ If the profile is configured to duplicate only disk images, selected images on

removable media will not be vaulted.

■ If images in the list do not have a copy on media in one of the Off-site

Volume Pools listed for the eject step, they will not be vaulted.

Stopping a Vault sessionYou can use Activity Monitor to stop a Vault session. The Activity Monitor must

be configured to show the Vault fields.

To stop a vault session

1 In the Activity Monitor, highlight the vault session you want to stop.

2 From the Action menu, select Cancel Job.

Note: If a vault session fails, you cannot run a new session until the old session

has ended. Use Cancel Job to end the failed session.


Resuming a Vault session

Resuming a Vault sessionIf a vault job fails, you should first consult the NetBackup Administration

Console Activity Monitor or the notification of session status (the session’s

summary.log). If they do not provide enough information to determine the

cause of the problem, examine the other log files.

See “Debug logs” on page 238.

After you determine the cause, you can do one of the following:

■ If the session had reached the Eject step or had attempted to generate

reports before encountering problems, you can use vltopmenu (or

vlteject) to finish the eject and/or reporting for the session.

■ Start a new session for your profile. If you are doing duplication, Vault will

not duplicate any images it already duplicated, but it will eject those images

if the profile is configured to eject. (This behavior is similar to checkpoint

and restart.)

Monitoring a Vault sessionIf you configure the NetBackup Administration Console Activity Monitor to

display the Vault fields, you can use the Activity Monitor to monitor the

progress of Vault jobs. For a Vault job initiated by the NetBackup scheduler, the

Policy field displays the policy name. If the Vault job is invoked by any means

other than the NetBackup scheduler, the Policy field is empty.

For information about configuring the Activity Monitor to display fields other

than the default, see the “Monitoring NetBackup Activity” section in the

NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I. The following are the fields that

display Vault job attributes in the Activity Monitor:

Table 6-21 Fields in the Vault Job Activity Monitor

Field Description

Vault The name of the vault under which this session is running.

Profile The name of the profile that holds the processing information for a vault session.

Robot The name of the robot the vault is associated with.

Session ID The unique numeric value that identifies the vault session. Session ID assignment

starts at 1 the first time a vault session is run after vault has been installed. The

value is incremented by one every time a new vault session runs.

Parent JobID A Vault job that duplicates images starts one or more bpduplicate processes.

Each of these child jobs refers to the job ID of the parent Vault job that started it.


Monitoring a Vault session

The following is an example of the Activity Monitor column layout dialog box

showing the Vault fields at the top of the window:

Media to Eject The number of tapes to be ejected for a vault session. If the profile is configured for

deferred eject, the tapes will not be ejected when the profile runs.

Operation The following values progress from the first value to the last as the vault job

progresses:

■ Choosing Images

■ Duplicating Images

■ Choosing Media

■ Catalog Backup

■ Eject and Report

Table 6-21 Fields in the Vault Job Activity Monitor (continued)

Field Description


The list of images to be vaulted

Detailed Vault job statusIf a job needs to duplicate images and another job from the same vault is

duplicating images, the job is queued and shown as Active in the Activity

Monitor. The Detailed Status tab of the Job Details dialog box shows

information about such jobs. The following are the possible messages written to

the Detailed Status tab.

vault global lock acquiredvault global lock releasedvault session ID lock acquiredvault session ID lock releasedvault duplication lock acquiredvault duplication lock releasedvault assign slot lock acquiredvault assign slot lock releasedvault eject lock acquiredvault eject lock releasedvault waiting for global lockvault waiting for session ID lockvault waiting for duplication lockvault waiting for assign slot lockvault waiting for eject lockvault lock acquisition failedvault lock release failed

Extended error codesVault jobs may exit with exit-status values greater than 255. These values are

called extended error codes because they extend beyond the standard 255

NetBackup error codes. If a vault job exits with an extended error code, the exit

status returned to the shell is 252. NetBackup has adopted the convention that

the exit status 252 means that an extended error code is returned via stderr, in

this message:

EXIT status = extended error code

The Activity Monitor displays the extended error code rather than the value 252

returned to the shell, in this case.

For more information about error codes in Vault, see “Errors returned by the

Vault session” on page 234.

The list of images to be vaultedDuring a Vault session, Vault builds a list of images that are candidates for

duplication or ejection. The preview.list file, which resides in the session

directory for the current Vault session, includes all images that match the

criteria specified on the profile Choose Backups tab except for the following:


The list of images to be vaulted

■ If a copy of an image already is in the Off-site Volume Group, that image will

not be included in the preview.list file. Because images that have a copy

in an Off-site Volume Group are already vaulted, Vault does not select them

as candidates for vaulting.

■ If the Source Volume Groups criteria in the Locations field on the Choose

Backups tab has been set to a specific volume group and if no copy of that

image exists in that volume group, the image will not be added to the

preview.list file.

After the preview.list file is generated, Vault evaluates the images in it to

determine if they should be duplicated and/or ejected. Because several filters

(that is, other profile configuration options) can exclude an image from

duplication and ejection, the preview.list file may be a superset of the

images that will eventually get duplicated by the session.

Duplication exclusionsThe following can eliminate an image from duplication:

■ Catalog backup images are not duplicated.

■ If Disk Only is specified on the Duplication tab, an image that has no disk

copy will not be duplicated.

■ If Vault determines that an image has already been duplicated, Vault will not

duplicate the image again. Vault uses the following criteria to determine if

an image has already been duplicated:

■ For One Copy Only. If the image exists in the Off-site Volume Pool,

Vault does not duplicate it; conversely, if a copy of the image is not in

the Off-site Volume Pool, Vault duplicates it.

■ For Concurrent Copies. Vault uses the For Each Image If This Copy Fails

setting (Continue or Fail All Copies) to decide whether or not to

duplicate an image. Each of the copies has its own ...If This Copy Fails

setting. Vault interprets the user’s intent as follows:

■ Continue. If the setting for the copy is Continue, that copy is not

critically important to the user. The duplication job will end with a

partially successful (1) status if at least one of the other copies

succeeds. If the current copy is the only one that fails, Vault will

not re-duplicate the image the next time the profile runs. If all

copies are set to Continue, at least one of those copies must exist or

Vault will duplicate the image.

■ Fail All Copies. If the setting for the copy is Fail All Copies, that

copy is critically important to the user, and none of the copies will

be successful. This forces Vault to retry the duplication the next


Ejecting media

time the profile runs if that image is selected for duplication (that

is, if the time window of the profile allows that image to be selected

again). However, if an unscheduled (and unlikely) event creates

copies of the image, more than one copy of the image may be

assigned to the destination volume pools. If the duplication

operation results in more than the Maximum Backup Copies, the

duplication step will fail. (Maximum Backup Copies are configured

in NetBackup Management > Host Properties > Master Server >

server_name > Global NetBackup Attributes.)

Ejection exclusionsVault ejects media listed in the eject.list file. If the profile skips the

duplication step and an image in preview.list has no copy in an off-site

volume pool (configured on the Eject tab), it will not be ejected.

Vault resiliencyThe functionality that Vault uses to build the list of images to be duplicated and

ejected allows Vault to do the following:

■ Duplicate and/or eject images that were not processed because of a problem

during the previous run of the profile. By configuring the image selection

period to be a sufficient length of time, the Vault profile will duplicate an

image if the duplication of that image failed during the previous run of that

profile.

To determine a sufficient length of time for the image selection period, see

“Overlap the time window in the profile” on page 40.

■ Not duplicate images that were successfully duplicated by a previous job.

You can rerun a Vault session that was only partially successful, and Vault

will not duplicate an image that was duplicated by a previous job. This

provides for maximum flexibility or resiliency by allowing you to configure a

longer image selection period without reduplicating images.

One Vault profile can vault original backup images from some NetBackup

backup policies and also duplicate and vault images from other backup policies.

Ejecting mediaIf you configure a profile to defer ejection, you must perform or schedule

another action to eject media. You can use one of the following actions to eject

media that was not ejected by a profile that selected or duplicated images:


Ejecting media

■ Manually by using the Vault Management node in the NetBackup

Administration Console

■ Manually by using the Vault Operator Menu

■ Manually by using the vlteject command

■ Automatically by creating and scheduling a Vault policy and entering the

appropriate vlteject command and options in the file list

Note: You must use one of the Vault methods to eject media; if you use a

NetBackup or Media Manager option to eject media, the correct database entries

will not be made and the Vault reports will not be accurate.

Related Topics

■ “Media ejection overview” on page 119


■ “Eject mode (Immediate or deferred)” on page 120

■ “Media ejection timeout impact” on page 121

Best Practices

■ “Specify robotic volume group when configuring a Vault” on page 41


■ “Suspend vaulted media” on page 46


Previewing media to be ejectedBefore you eject media, you can preview the media that will be ejected. To

preview that media, you can use the following:

To use the administration Console to preview media that will be ejected

1 Select the vault or profile for which you want to eject media.

2 Select Actions > Deferred Eject.

The Deferred Eject dialog box appears. The options selected in the dialog

box depend on whether you are ejecting for all vaults, for a single vault, or

for a profile.

3 If necessary, select a vault, profile, or session ID.

4 Click Get Preview, then select one or more of the profiles in the Eject

Preview window.


Ejecting media

To use the vlteject command to preview media that will be ejected

1 From a command prompt, enter vlteject command in the following

format, specifying the robot, vault, or session for which you want to preview

ejected media:

vlteject -preview [-profile profile_name] [-robot robot_name] [-vault vault_name [-sessionid id]]

Ejecting media by using the NetBackup Administration ConsoleYou can use the NetBackup Administration Console to eject media and generate

reports for all vaults, for a single vault, or for a profile for which media have not

yet been ejected.

When you select Deferred Eject, the default selections on the Deferred Eject

dialog box depend on whether you are ejecting for all vaults, for a single vault, or

for a profile. From the dialog box, you can initiate the eject operation or preview

the media that will be ejected. The preview shows the session IDs for which the

deferred eject will occur and the media IDs for each session selected. You also

can select whether to generate the reports after the ejection.

To eject media by using the NetBackup administration Console

1 Select the vault or profile for which you want to eject media.

2 Select Actions > Deferred Eject.

The Deferred Eject dialog box appears. The options selected in the dialog

box depend on whether you are ejecting for all vaults, for a single vault, or

for a profile.

3 Select or change any of the options on the Deferred Eject dialog box.

4 Click Eject.

To preview the media that will be ejected, click Get Preview, then select one

or more of the profiles in the Eject Preview window.

To monitor the progress of or cancel the eject operation, use the NetBackup

Administration Console Activity Monitor.


Ejecting media

The following shows the Deferred Eject dialog box with all vaults selected and

previewing the media that will be ejected for the highlighted session:

Ejecting media by using the Vault operator menuYou can use the Vault Operator Menu to eject media and generate reports for

Vault sessions for which media have not yet been ejected (the reports must be

configured in the profiles). The Vault Operator Menu calls the vlteject

command to accomplish the media ejection. You also can use the Vault Operator

Menu to preview the media to be ejected.

For more information about the menu, see “Using the Vault operator menu

interface” on page 226.

To eject media by using the Vault operator menu

1 Start the Vault Operator Menu by invoking the vltopmenu command.

2 If necessary, select a profile.


Ejecting media

3 Select one of the following options:

■ Eject Media for This Session

■ Consolidate All Ejects

■ Consolidate All Reports and Ejects

Ejecting media by using the vlteject commandYou can use the vlteject command to eject media and generate reports for

Vault sessions for which media have not yet been ejected (the reports must be

configured in the profiles). The vlteject command can process the pending

ejects and/or reports for all robots (that is, all sessions for all vaults), for all

sessions for a single vault, or for a specific Vault session.

The following is the format of the vlteject command:

vlteject -eject -report -preview [-profile profile_name] [-robot robot_name] [-vault vault_name [-sessionid id]] [-auto y|n] [-eject_delay seconds] [-legacy]

The vlteject command resides in the following directory:

UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin

The following is a vlteject command example that ejects media for all robots

that have sessions for which media has not yet been ejected and generates the

reports:

vlteject -eject -report

The following example ejects all media that has not yet been ejected for all

sessions for the CustomerDB vault and generates reports:

vlteject -vault CustomerDB -eject -report

The following is a vlteject command example that previews the media to be

ejected for the CustomerDB vault:

vlteject -vault CustomerDB -preview

For more information about the vlteject command, see the NetBackup

Commands manual and “Using NetBackup Commands” in the NetBackup

Administration Console help.

To eject media by using the vlteject command

1 In a terminal or command window, change to the directory in which the

vlteject command resides.

2 Invoke the command, using the appropriate options and parameters.


Ejecting media

Ejecting media by using a Vault policyYou can use a Vault policy to eject media and/or generate reports for Vault

sessions that have been completed already and for which media have not been

ejected. In the Vault policy, specify Vault as the policy type, do not specify

clients, and specify the vlteject command on the Backup Selections tab.






The following is an vltejct command example that ejects media for all robots

that have sessions for which media has not yet been ejected and generates the

reports:

vlteject -eject -report

The following example ejects all media that has not yet been ejected for all

sessions for the CustomerDB vault and generates reports:

vlteject -vault CustomerDB -eject -report

For more information about creating NetBackup policies, see the NetBackup

Administrator’s Guide, Volume I. For more information about the vlteject

command, see the NetBackup Commands manual and “Using NetBackup

Commands” in the NetBackup Administration Console help.

To create a Vault policy that ejects media


> Policies.




4 Click OK.






8 Bypass the Client tab (clients are not specified for Vault jobs).


Injecting media

9 On the Backup Selections tab, enter the vlteject command and the

appropriate options for the policy.

10 Click OK.

Consolidating ejectsYou can eject media from more than one vault session, which is known as

consolidating ejects. For example, you may use one vault policy to duplicate

media daily but eject media only at the end of the week.

If you consolidate ejects, you should also consolidate reports. Some restrictions

may apply if you consolidate reports. By default, you cannot consolidate reports

between vaults that use slots and vaults that use containers.

Related Topics


■ “Eject tab” on page 118


To consolidate ejects and reports for a profile

1 Select Deferred Eject on the profile Eject tab.

This action ensures that tapes will not be ejected automatically for each

Vault session.

2 Select Deferred Reports on the profile Reports tab.

This action ensures that reports will not be generated automatically for

each Vault session.

3 Eject media and generate reports using one of the methods described in

“Ejecting media” on page 140.

Injecting mediaIn a normal volume rotation, you have to inject media back into a robot after

media expires and is returned from your off-site storage location so that it is

available for reuse. You also may need to inject unexpired media for restore or

disaster recovery operations.

Injecting media updates the NetBackup and Media Manager catalogs so that the

correct location of the media is recorded. If the robot does not have a bar code

reader to identify the media being injected, you still must use an inject option so

the location of the media is updated in the databases. How you accomplish the

process of injecting the media depends on the robot library:


Injecting media

■ If your library has a media access port (MAP), you insert the media to be

injected into the MAP and then use one of the injecting options discussed in

this section to move that media from the MAP to the library slots. If the

library has a bar code reader, the appropriate database changes are made

automatically.

■ If the library does not have a MAP, you insert the media into the library slots

or into a cartridge which is then placed into the robot. If the library has a bar

code reader, the appropriate database changes are made automatically.

■ If your library does not have a bar code reader, you must use the Move media

option of the NetBackup Administration Console so the databases are

updated.

You can inject media as follows:

■ Injecting media by using the NetBackup Administration Console

■ Injecting media by using the Vault operator menu

■ Injecting media by using the vltinject command

On UNIX systems, you also can inject media by using the vmadm command. For

information about injecting media and the inject functions available by robot,

see the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide.

The vault fields in the Media Manager database are cleared when the media are

unassigned while in a robotic volume group or moved into a robotic volume

group and then unassigned (that is, injected back into the robot. The following

are the Media Manager database fields dedicated to Vault information:

Volume pool, volume group, and media description fields are used for all

volumes, not just volumes used by Vault, so they are not cleared when media are

injected back into a robot. You can, however, configure NetBackup so that the

media description field is cleared.

See “Clearing the media description field” on page 168.

Field Description

vltcid The ID of the container (container vaulting only).

vltname The name of the vault.

vltreturn The date the volume or container should be returned from the off-site vault.

vltsent The date the volume or container was sent off-site.

vltsid The ID of the session that vaulted the volume or container.

vltslot The ID of the slot in which the volume resides in the off-site vault (slot vaulting only).


Injecting media

Injecting media by using the NetBackup Administration ConsoleUse the NetBackup Administration Console to inject media for libraries that

have bar code readers and libraries that do not have bar code readers.

To inject media by using the administration Console

1 Insert the media into the robotic library slots or media access port.


Management > Media > Robots.

3 Select the robotic library where you inserted the volume.

4 Click Actions > Inventory Robot.

5 In the Inventory operation section, select Update volume configuration.

6 If your robot has a media access port into which you placed the media, select

Empty media access port prior to update in the Inventory operation section.

7 To configure advanced options, click Advanced Options.

8 To clear any previous display in the Results section, click Clear Results.

9 Click Start to start the update.

10 Repeat as necessary until all media are injected.

To inject media for robots without bar code readers

1 Insert the media into the robotic library slots (or into the cartridge and then

inject the cartridge into the robot).


Management > Media.

3 Select the volume to be injected into the library.

4 Click Actions > Move.

5 In the Move Volumes dialog box, select or enter the robot, volume group, and

slot number.

Use the First Slot Number field to enter the slot into which you placed the

volume.

6 Click OK to move the volume.

7 Repeat as necessary until all media are injected.

For information about how to use the Administration Console to inject media

and the inject functions available by robot, see the NetBackup Administrator’s

Guide.


Injecting media

Injecting media by using the Vault operator menuYou can use the Vault Operator Menu to inject media. The Vault Operator Menu

calls the vltinject application program interface (API) to inject the media.

Note: Ensure that all the media in the MAP are from the current vault (that is,

the vault for the currently selected profile in vltopmenu). If they are not, inject

will fail.

To inject media by using the Vault operator menu



3 If necessary, select a session.

4 Load the media in the robot’s media access port.

5 Select Inject Media into Robot.

6 Repeat until all media are injected into the robot.

For more information about using the Vault Operator menu, see “Using the

Vault operator menu interface” on page 226.

Injecting media by using the vltinject commandThe vltinject command injects volumes into a robot and updates the Media

Manager volume database. It requires as an option the name of a profile (if

unique) or a robot number, vault, and profile name.

The following is the format of the vltinject command:

vltinject profile|robot/vault/profile

The following example command injects volumes that were vaulted by the

Payroll profile and that have been returned from the off-site vault:

vltinject Payroll

The following example injects volumes that were vaulted by the Weekly profile

in the Finance vault and that have been returned from the off-site vault:

vltinject 8/Finance/Weekly

For more information about the vltinject command, see the NetBackup



To inject media by using the vltinject command


vltinject command resides, as follows:


Using containers



2 Load the media to be injected into the robot’s media access port.


4 Repeat until all media are injected.

Using containersA container is a box in which you can place media and then transfer that box to

your off-site storage location. When you configure a vault, you select whether

the media are stored in containers or slots at your off-site storage location.

Vault tracks, reports, and recalls your media regardless of how the media are

transferred and stored off site.

After the media are ejected from your robot, you must add the media logically to

containers by using either the Vault Operator Menu or the vltcontainers

command. The options available for adding media to containers are as follows:

■ Enter the container and media IDs by typing them in with the keyboard.

Using this method, you can add media to more than one container.

■ Scan the container and media IDs by using a keyboard interface bar code

reader. (Keyboard interface readers are also known as keyboard wedge

readers because they connect (or wedge) between the keyboard and the

keyboard port on your computer.) Using this method, you can add media to

more than one container.

■ Read an input file that contains the IDs or numeric equivalents of bar codes

of all the media that will be added to one container. If you have a bar code

reader that can write to a file, you can scan media bar codes and use that

output file as input for the vltcontainers command.

■ Add all the media ejected by a specific session to one container.

The default return date of a container is the date of the volume in the container

that will be returned the latest. You can change the return date during the

container and media ID entry process or at any time thereafter before a

container is recalled.

You also can delete a container from the NetBackup and Media Manager

databases. If a container becomes empty after it is recalled and all media that

reside in it are either injected back into the robot or assigned to another

container, it is deleted from the NetBackup and Media Manager databases.

If you use containers, Vault reports on the containers and media outside the

context of a profile or session.

To vault and manage containers and media, see the following:


Using containers

■ Vaulting media in containers

■ Managing containers and media

■ Reporting on containers and media

Vaulting media in containersYou can use either the Vault Operator Menu or the vltcontainers command

to add media IDs to containers.

Vaulting container media by using the Vault operator menu

After the media are ejected from your robot, you can use the Vault Operator

Menu to enter the container and media IDs.



To vault media in containers by using the Vault operator menu


2 Eject the media that will be added to the containers.

3 Select Container Management.


■ Move media into one or more containers if you intend to use the

keyboard to enter media and container IDs or use a bar code scanner to

scan the bar codes on the volumes and containers.

■ Move all media ejected by this session, into one container if you want

to add all media ejected by a session to a container.

■ Move all media listed in a file, into one container if you want to add all

media listed in an input file to a container.

5 Follow the prompts to complete the process of logically moving media into

containers.

Vaulting container media by using the vltcontainers command

After the media are ejected from your robot, you can use the vltcontainers

command to enter the container and media IDs. The following is the format of

the vltcontainers command:

vltcontainers -run [-rn robot_number]vltcontainers -run -usingbarcodes [-rn robot_number]vltcontainers -run -vltcid container_id -vault vault_name -sessionid session_id


Using containers

vltcontainers -run -vltcid container_id -f file_name [-rn robot_number] [-usingbarcodes]vltcontainers -view [-vltcid container_id]vltcontainers -change -vltcid container_id -rd return_datevltcontainers -delete -vltcid container_idvltcontainers -version

The following examples show how to use the vltcontainers command to add

media to a container:

■ To add the volumes ejected from robot number 0 to containers and enter the

IDs by typing them in, use the following command:

vltcontainers -run -rn 0

■ To add the volumes ejected from robot number 0 to containers and use a bar

code reader to scan the container and media IDs, use the following

command:

vltcontainers -run -usingbarcodes -rn 0

■ To change the return date of container ABC123 to December 07, 2004, use

the following command:

vltcontainers -change -vltcid ABC123 -rd 12/07/2004

■ To delete container ABC123 from the NetBackup and Media Manager

catalogs, use the following command:

vltcontainers -delete -vltcid ABC123

■ To add all media ejected by session 4 of vault MyVault_Cntrs to container

ABC123, use the following command:

vltcontainers -run -vltcid ABC123 -vault MyVault_Cntrs -sessionid 4

■ To add media listed in file C:\home\jack\medialist that are ejected

from robot number 0 to container ABC123, use the following command:

vltcontainers -run -vltcid ABC123 -f C:\home\jack\medialist -rn 0

■ To add media to container ABC123 that was ejected from a robot that is

attached to the master server and read the bar codes for that media from file

C:\home\jack\medialist, use the following command:

vltcontainers -run -vltcid ABC123 -f C:\home\jack\medialist -usingbarcodes

For more information about the vltcontainers command, see the NetBackup



To vault media in containers by using the vltcontainers command

1 Eject the media that will be added to the containers.


Using containers

2 Invoke the vltcontainers command, using the appropriate options and

parameters.

3 Follow the prompts to move the media logically into containers.

Managing containers and mediaAfter the media and containers are sent to your off-site storage location, you can

still perform tasks to manage the containers and media. You can view and

change return dates of containers. If a container has been recalled and is empty

of media, you can delete the information about a container from the NetBackup

and Media Manager databases.

Using the Vault operator menu to manage container media

You can use the Vault Operator Menu to change a container return date and to

delete the information about a container from the NetBackup databases.



Note: Iron Mountain users: To change a container return date, change the date

using the Vault Operator Menu or the vltcontainers command then resend

the Container Inventory Report or the Iron Mountain FTP file to Iron Mountain.

Do not use the Iron Mountain account management facilities to change a

container return date; if you do, the Vault reports will not match the report

information maintained by Iron Mountain.

To view a container return date by using the Vault operator menu


2 Select Container Management > View a container’s return date.

3 Follow the prompts to enter a container name.

To change a container return date by using the Vault operator menu


2 Select Container Management > Change a container’s return date.

3 Follow the prompts to enter container names and change dates.

To delete a container by using the Vault operator menu


2 Select Container Management > Delete a container.


Using containers

3 Follow the prompts to enter a container name and delete the records of a

container.

Note: If a container becomes empty after it is recalled and all media that reside

in it are either injected back into the robot or assigned to another container, it is

deleted from the NetBackup and Media Manager databases.

Using the vltcontainers command to manage container media

You can use the vltcontainers command to view and change a container

return date and to delete the information about a container from the NetBackup

and Media Manager databases.

For more information about the vltcontainers command, see the NetBackup



Note: Iron Mountain users: To change a container return date, change the date

using the Vault Operator Menu or the vltcontainers command then resend

the Container Inventory Report or the Iron Mountain FTP file to Iron Mountain.

Do not use the Iron Mountain account management facilities to change a

container return date; if you do, the Vault reports will not match the report

information maintained by Iron Mountain.

To view a container return date by using the vltcontainers command

◆ Invoke the vltcontainers command using the -view option. For

example, to view the return date of container ABC123, use the following

command:

vltcontainers -view -vltcid ABC123

To change a container return date by using the vltcontainers command

◆ Invoke the vltcontainers command using the -change option and

specifying the -vltcid parameter and argument and -rd parameter and

argument. For example, to change the return date of container ABC123 to

December 07, 2004, use the following command:

vltcontainers -change -vltcid ABC123 -rd 12/07/2004

To delete a container by using the vltcontainers command

◆ Invoke the vltcontainers command, using the -delete option and

specifying the -vltcid parameter and argument. For example, to delete


Using containers

container ABC123 from the NetBackup and Media Manager catalogs, use the

following command:

vltcontainers -delete -vltcid ABC123

To be deleted, a container must be empty.

Reporting on containers and mediaThe Container Inventory Report shows all the containers configured in your

vaulting environment, the return date of each container, and the media that are

in each container. Alternatively, you can specify a container ID to generate a

report of the media in a specific container.

If you are using containers, all of the other Vault reports will list the ID of the

container in which the volume resides rather than a slot number. Reports will

not show container information until after you add container and media IDs in

Vault. Media are removed logically from a container when they are injected back

into the robot.

You also can generate the Container Inventory Report by using the Vault

Operator Menu (Run Individual Reports > Container Inventory). For more

information, see “Using the Vault operator menu interface” on page 226.


Assigning multiple retentions with one profile

The following is an example of the Container Inventory Report window:

To generate a container inventory report

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, select Reports > Vault Reports >

Container Inventory.

2 In the Container ID field, select All Containers or the ID of the container for

which you want a report.

3 Click Run Report.

The details pane of the Administration Console will display the report

details.

Assigning multiple retentions with one profileDifferent types of data often are retained for different lengths of time. For

example, you may want to vault your finance data for 7 years and your customer


Assigning multiple retentions with one profile

data for 20 years. To do this, the off-site copy of your backups will have different

retentions based on the type of data. Vault can process different types of data

individually if your backups are organized based on the type of data being

protected (for example, if you have separate backup policies based on the data

type, such as a Finance backup policy and a CustomerDB backup policy).

When a Vault session creates a duplicate image, Vault usually assigns the same

retention to all of the duplicates created using one of the following duplication

options:

■ Specifying No Change keeps the same expiration date as the original copy.

■ Specifying a numeric retention level applies that retention, calculated from

the backup time of the original image.

Alternatively, you can configure Vault to calculate a retention for the duplicate

copy based on the type of data. During duplication, specifying Use Mappings

instructs the profile to use the alternative retention mappings. The retention for

a duplicate copy of a particular type of data is based on the retention level

assigned by the backup policy for that type of data. The retention mapping

converts the original backup image’s retention to a new retention for the

duplicated copy.

For example, suppose you want to retain the on-site copy of all your data for 2

weeks, the off-site copy of your Finance data for 7 years, and the off-site copy of

your CustomerDB data for 20 years. You can do this as follows:

1 Using Host Properties in the NetBackup Administration Console, configure

retention levels 1 and 11 to be 2 weeks, retention level 12 to be 7 years, and

retention level 13 to be 20 years.

2 In your Finance backup policy, assign retention level 1 (2 weeks) to the first

(or only) copy configured in the schedule.

3 In your CustomerDB policy, assign retention level 11 (2 weeks) to the first (or

only) copy configured in the schedule.

4 In your Vault profile, on the Duplication tab configure Retention Level to be

Use Mappings.

5 Configure the retention mappings as follows:

0 0

1 12

2 2

3 3

4 4


Vaulting additional volumes

With this mapping, duplicated images from the Finance policy/schedule are

assigned a retention level of 12 (7 years) and duplicated images from the

CustomerDB policy/schedule are assigned a retention level of 13 (20 years).

The duplicated images will be written to different media if the Allow

Multiple Retentions Per Media property is not set (NetBackup Management

> Host Properties > Master Server > Media).

You can configure retention mappings globally for all vaults by using the Vault

Management Properties dialog box Retention Mappings tab or for each vault by

using the Vault dialog box Retention Mappings tab.

When you configure a profile, you can specify normal retention calculation for

some duplication rules and alternative retention mappings for other duplication

rules.

The values for the retention levels are configured in NetBackup Management >

Host Properties > Master Server > Retention Periods. For information about

configuring different values for the retention levels, see the NetBackup

Administrator’s Guide, Volume I.

Related Topics

■ Vault Management Properties dialog box “Retention mappings tab” on

page 79

■ Vault dialog box “Retention mappings tab” on page 87

Vaulting additional volumesUsually, you create the necessary copies of backup media during a NetBackup

policy job or a Vault profile duplication job, and the Vault profile ejects the

media for transfer off site. After the Vault profile is run, you cannot run the

profile again to create additional copies of media that was already sent off site.

5 5

6 6

7 7

8 8

9 9

10 10

11 13

12 12


Vaulting additional volumes

However, you can use other methods to create and eject additional copies of

backup media after the NetBackup policy and Vault profile have been run. You

can duplicate the volume manually or you can configure Vault to duplicate the

volume. If you want to duplicate and eject one or several additional volumes one

time only, the easiest solution is to duplicate the volume manually.

To duplicate an additional volume, the primary copy of the volume must be in

the robot. If the primary copy is not in the robot but a duplicate copy is, you can

use the bpchangeprimary command to change the duplicate to primary before

you create an additional volume. For information about the bpchangeprimary

command, see the NetBackup Commands manual and “Using NetBackup

Commands” in the NetBackup Administration Console help.

Duplicating a volume manuallyIf you use the following instructions to duplicate a volume manually, the tape

will appear on the Picking List for Vault report when it expires and be recalled

from the off-site vault as part of your normal operations.

To duplicate a volume manually

1 Duplicate the volume manually by using the bpduplicate command.

When duplicating the volume, specify the same off-site volume pool used

for the volume already vaulted.

2 Assign the vault vendor’s slot number for the volume by using the

vltoffsitemedia command. The slot number is assigned in the vltslot

field. You can assign values to other vault fields if desired.

Caution: Do not assign a value to the vltreturn field. If you assign a value, the

volume will never appear on the Picking List for Vault report.

3 Move the volume into the off-site volume group by using the vmchange

command. Use the same off-site volume group as the first vaulted copy.

If the volume is in the same off-site volume group and the same off-site

volume pool used by the regularly scheduled Vault profile, this volume will

appear on the Picking List for Vault report when the first vaulted copy

expires (if you did not assign a value to the vltreturn field).

4 Eject the volume.

5 Edit the file of the Picking List for Robot report to insert this volume into the

list, then print the report and give it to the vault vendor.

For information about the bpduplicate and vltoffsitemedia commands,

see the NetBackup Commands manual and “Using NetBackup Commands” in the

NetBackup Administration Console help.


Revaulting unexpired media

Duplicating a volume by using VaultIf you use Vault to create and eject an additional copy of a volume that is already

in the off-site vault, you must use a different vault, different off-site volume

group, and different off-site volume pool than the first volume. The additional

volume will not appear in the Picking List for Vault, so you must use the Lost

Media Report to recall the volume after it expires.

To duplicate a volume by using Vault

1 Create and configure a new vault. Use a different off-site volume group than

the first volume.

2 Create and configure a new profile to duplicate and eject the volume. Assign

the volume to a different off-site volume pool than the first volume.

3 Configure the eject step of the profile to search the off-site volume pool in

which the additional volume was assigned.

4 Run the profile.

5 To recall the volume after it expires, run the Lost Media Report.

If you run the Lost Media Report as part of your normal operations, the

volume will appear on the report after it expires.

Revaulting unexpired mediaWhen you inject unexpired media from off-site storage back into a robot (for

example, to perform a restore), you should revault the media. If you have to

revault many tapes, you should create a new profile to revault them. If only a

few tapes are to be revaulted, revaulting them manually may be the easiest and

fastest option.

To revault media by creating a new profile

1 Copy the original Vault profile that was used to eject the media.

2 In this new profile, change the Choose Backups time window to shift it far

enough back in time so that it will select the images on the volumes that you

want to revault.

3 Start a session using this new vault profile.

Vault will recognize that copies of images eligible to be vaulted exist and

will not duplicate the images even if the duplication step is configured. The

profile will eject the volumes to be revaulted.

4 If you are vaulting containers, logically add the volumes to containers. The

container ID field is cleared when media vaulted in containers is injected

back into the robot, so you must add the media to containers.


Revaulting unexpired media

See “Using containers” on page 150.

If you are vaulting media in slots, Vault assumes that the media will be

returned to the same slots in off-site storage from which they were recalled.

5 Delete the new profile you created to do the revaulting.

6 If you froze your media during the data restore process, use the bpmedia

command to unfreeze it.

If you froze the media, you have to unfreeze the it so it will be recalled and

returned to volume pool rotation when it expires. Vaulted media that are

suspended will be unsuspended automatically when they expire and are

recalled.

7 Return the media to your vault vendor so that all backups on that media will

be available for future disaster recovery.

8 Run the Recovery Report to ensure that media are available in off-site

storage for future use.

For information about the bpmedia command, see the NetBackup Commands


Console help.

To revault media manually

1 Manually eject the media, using one of the following methods:

■ Use the vmchange command.

■ In the NetBackup Administration Console, highlight the media ID then

select the Eject Volumes from Robot.... operation on the Actions menu.

Note: vlteject and vltopmenu will not work for this purpose.

2 Manually transfer the media to the off-site volume group, using one of the

following methods:

■ Use the vmchange command.

■ In the NetBackup Administration Console, highlight the media ID then

select the Change Volume Group.... operation on the Actions menu.

3 If you are vaulting containers, logically add the volumes to containers. The

container ID field is cleared when media vaulted in containers is injected

back into the robot, so you must add the media to containers.


If you are vaulting media in slots, Vault assumes that the media will be

returned to the same slots in off-site storage from which they were recalled.


Tracking volumes not ejected by Vault

4 If you froze your media during the data restore process, use the bpmedia

command to unfreeze it.

If you froze the media, you have to unfreeze the it so it will be recalled and

returned to volume pool rotation when it expires. Vaulted media that are

suspended will be unsuspended automatically when they expire and are

recalled.



6 Run the Recovery report to ensure that the media are available for future


For information about the vmchange command, see the NetBackup Commands


Console help.

Tracking volumes not ejected by VaultEject is the event that Vault uses to update the NetBackup database for the

location of volumes and to recall volumes. In normal operation, Vault must eject

volumes so they are tracked and recalled from off-site storage after they expire.

If you ejected volumes or removed them from your robot without using a Vault

eject method, it is still possible to use Vault to track them — if they are in a

volume pool you are using for off-site media. Using commands, you can change

the attributes for volumes that were not ejected by Vault so they will appear in

the Vault reports and be recalled when they expire.

Note: This process will work only if the volumes already are in a volume pool on

the Eject tab of a profile. You cannot change the pool of an assigned volume.

First, use the vmchange command to change the volume group of the volumes,

which Vault uses to track their location. For example, the following vmchange

command changes the volume group of volume A00001:

vmchange -new_v offsite_volgrp -m A00001

Then, use the vltoffsitemedia command to change the Vault specific

attributes. The following vltoffsitemedia example changes the vault

attributes of volume A00001:

vltoffsitemedia -change -m A00001 -vltname offsite_vault -vltsent 07/03/2004 -vltreturn 0 -vltslot 99 -vltsession 33

A catalog volume is processed the same except the return date is set to the date

the volume should be recalled.


Vaulting VSM media

If you are adding the volumes to slots at your off-site storage location, you can

use the vltoffsitemedia command with the -list option to find empty slots

into which you can add the volumes.

If you are placing the volumes in containers, use the vltcontainers command

to add the volumes logically to containers after you specify the off-site volume

group and the vault attributes


The default return date of a container is the date of the volume in the container

that will be returned the latest; you may have to change the container return

date if the volume you are adding expires later than any volume already in the

container.

The following are the vltoffsitemedia options you can use to set the

necessary volume attributes:

Vaulting VSM mediaVault can eject and track Veritas Storage Migrator (VSM) media if it is in a VSM

volume pool configured on the profile Eject tab and it has a return date from

vault set by VSM. Vault assigns vendor slot or container IDs to the media, and

the media appears on the Picking List for Robot when they are ejected and on the

Picking List for Vault that covers their return dates.

You can vault VSM media by using a profile specifically for VSM media or by

using a profile that also ejects NetBackup media. If you use a profile that you

Table 6-22 Options to vltoffsitemedia

Option Description

-vltname vault_name The name of the vault.

-vltreturn date Set the return date to 0; Vault uses the latest expiration date of the images

on the volume as the return date. Exception: if the volume is a NetBackup

catalog backup volume, set the date the volume should be recalled from

offsite.

-vltsent date Set the sent date to the date the volume was ejected. The format of the date

depends on your locale setting. For the C locale, the date syntax is mm/ dd/

yyyy [hh[:mm[: ss]]].

-vltsession session_id The ID of the session that vaulted the volume or container. Set it to a

nonzero number that is different from existing session IDs

-vltslot slot_id The ID of the slot in which the volume resides in the off-site vault. Ensure

that this is an empty slot at your off-site storage location. If you are placing

the volume in a container, do not specify this option.


Vaulting VSM media

already use for ejecting media and generating reports, you do not have to run a

VSM-specific profile, and the VSM media will be ejected, vaulted, and recalled as

part of your normal Vault operations.

Vault suspend options do not affect VSM media; VSM media are never

suspended.

Prerequisites to vaulting VSM media in Vault:

■ Configure vaulting properties in VSM.

■ The VSM media must have a return date from Vault set by VSM.

Related Topics


To vault VSM media

1 Configure a Vault profile so it includes the dedicated VSM volume pool(s)

from which you want to eject media:

a For a VSM-specific profile, accept the defaults on the Choose Backups

tab and skip the duplication and catalog backup steps.

b On the Eject tab, select Eject Media from VSM Volume Pools and then

add the VSM volume pool(s) to the eject list. The VSM media must be in

a volume pool dedicated to VSM.

c For a VSM-specific profile, select (at a minimum) the following reports

on the Reports tab:


Vaulting media not created by NetBackup

■ Picking List for Robot

■ Picking List for Vault

2 Run the profile so that VSM media are ejected and reports are generated.

You can schedule both the VSM vaulting session and the Vault session so

they run at a regular interval.

Vaulting media not created by NetBackupVault can eject and track media that was not created by NetBackup if the media

are managed by Media Manager. Vault uses a eject notify script to add valid

media IDs to the eject list, and Vault ejects that media if you add the volume pool

in which that media resides to the Off-site Volume Pools list on the Eject tab of

the Profile dialog box.

Vault assigns vendor slot or container IDs to the media, and those media appear

on the Picking List for Robot and Picking List for Vault reports. Vault ejects

notify script media even if no other media are selected for ejection by the Vault

profile.

Notify script templates are provided with Vault. The following procedure

documents how to copy and modify the vlt_ejectlist_notify script.The

scripts include information about how to modify and test them.

See “Using notify scripts” on page 166.

To vault non NetBackup media managed by media Manager

1 Copy the vlt_ejectlist_notify script and name it appropriately (that

is, add the appropriate extension to the name).

2 Edit the script as follows:

a Add the media IDs of the non NetBackup media that you want to eject.

b Add a vltoffsitemedia command and use the vltreturn option to

set a date to recall the media from the vault.

The script will execute the vltoffsitemedia command(s) and assign

the expiration date(s). The media will appear on the Picking List for

Vault on the date it expires.

3 Place the script in the NetBackup bin directory.

4 Configure a Vault profile so that it includes the volume pool in which the

media are assigned in the Off-site Volume Pools list on the Eject tab of the

Profile dialog box.

When the profile runs and if the script executes successfully, the media will be

ejected.


Notifying a tape operator when eject begins

For information about the vltoffsitemedia command, see the NetBackup



Notifying a tape operator when eject beginsVault can send an e-mail notification when the eject process begins. Eject

notification is configured for each profile on the Eject tab, for each robot on the

Vault Robot dialog box, and globally for Vault on the Vault Management

Properties dialog box; Vault sends the notification to the first e-mail addresses

found in that order.

To configure eject e-mail notification, see the following:

■ “Configuring Vault management properties” on page 74

■ “Vault robot dialog box” on page 82


Related Topics


Using notify scriptsA Vault job can call notify scripts at specific points during the execution of the

job. Vault includes template notify scripts that you can customize for your use.

You can use a script for a robot, a vault, or a profile. The template notify scripts

are in the following directory:

UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/goodies

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\goodies

On Windows systems, the names of the scripts include a .cmd extension. They

include instructions that can help you edit them for your needs.

To be called and executed, a script must be copied to the NetBackup bin

directory. A script must return a normal status (0) for the Vault job to continue

processing. In case of failure, the script must return a nonzero status code to

cause the Vault job to stop. On UNIX systems, the return status is communicated

to the Vault job through the exit call. On Windows systems, the scripts

communicate the return status in a file defined by the EXIT_STATUS

environment variable, which is set by Vault.

The following scripts have been provided with Vault:

vlt_start_notify Called by the Vault session after it starts. For example, you

can use it to send notification when the Vault job begins.


Using notify scripts

Before you use a notify script, ensure that your systems are set up properly for

e-mail.

See “Setting up E-mail” on page 217.

Notify script for a specific robotYou can use a notify script to create a unique, customized script for each robot

in your configuration. To create a notify script for a specific robot, append the

robot number to the script name and copy the script to the NetBackup bin

directory.

For example, a vlt_start_notify script for a specific robot will appear as

follows:

vlt_start_notify.robot_number

The script will be executed for all profiles created for the robot.

Use the same methodology to create other notify scripts.

vlt_ejectlist_notify Called by the Vault session before the list of media to be

ejected (the eject.list) is built. You can use this script

to add media managed by Media Manager but not created

by NetBackup or Vault to the eject list. The script writes

media IDs to the addon_medialist file; Vault reads the

addon_medialist file and ejects the media listed in that

file during the current Vault session if the volume pool in

which that media resides is in the Off-site Volume Pools

list on the Eject tab of the Profile dialog box.

vlt_starteject_notify Called by the Vault session after the eject.list file is

built and before the automatic eject process begins. You

can use this script to send notification when the eject

process begins or perhaps to suspend the media in the

eject list. If the eject step is not configured for the profile,

the vlt_starteject_notify script is not called.

vlt_endeject_notify Called at the end of eject processing. You can use this

script to send notification when the eject process ends. If

the eject step is not configured for the profile, the

vlt_endeject_notify script is not called.

vlt_end_notify Called by the Vault session immediately before it exits.

One use for this script is to start another vault job; you can

then run Vault jobs in succession and avoid resource

contention.


Clearing the media description field

Notify script for a specific VaultYou can use a notify script to create a unique, customized script for each vault in

your configuration. To create a notify script for a specific vault, append the

robot number and vault name to the script name and copy the script to the

NetBackup bin directory.

For example, a vlt_start_notify script for a specific robot/vault

combination will appear as follows:

vlt_start_notify.robot_number.vault_name

The script will be executed for all profiles created for a specific vault.


Notify script for a specific profileYou can use a notify script to create a unique, customized script for each profile

in your configuration. To create a notify script for a specific profile, append the

robot number, vault name, and profile name to the script name and copy the

script to the NetBackup bin directory.

For example, a vlt_start_notify script for a specific robot/vault/profile

combination will appear as follows:

vlt_start_notify.robot_number.vault_name.profile_name

This script will be executed for a specific profile defined for a specific vault.


Order of executionThe notify scripts are executed in specific to general order, as follows:

1 script_name.robot_number.vault_name.profile_name

2 script_name.robot_number.vault_name

3 script_name.robot_number

4 script_name

Clearing the media description fieldWhen media are returned from the off-site vault during a typical volume

rotation, they are expired and ready for reuse. To avoid confusion, it may be

helpful to clear the media description information when an expired volume is

returned to the robot.

You can configure NetBackup so that the media description field is cleared when

media are returned to the robot. To do so, use the nbemmcmd to set the


Deassigning vaulted NetBackup catalog media

VAULT_CLEAR_MEDIA_DESC parameter. The media description field will be

cleared when other Vault information is cleared from the Media Manager

volume database.

For information about setting media manager parameters, see the NetBackup

Administrator’s Guide.

For information about the nbemmcmd command, see the NetBackup Commands


Console help.

Deassigning vaulted NetBackup catalog mediaApplies only to Vault catalog backup media from releases earlier than NetBackup

6.0.

Usually, NetBackup catalog media are returned for use as catalog backup media

after the retention period for the media has passed. If you want to reuse vaulted

catalog backup media before it expires or if catalog backup media was not

recalled properly from off-site storage, you must deassign that media manually

by using the vmquery command.

After you deassign the media, you can use it again for a catalog backup. If you

want to use the tape as a general NetBackup backup tape, you must also relabel

the tape by using bplabel. For information about bplabel and vmquery, see

the NetBackup Commands manual and “Using NetBackup Commands” in the

NetBackup Administration Console help.

The bplabel command is in the following directory:

UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\bin\admincmd

The vmquery command is in the following directory:

UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/volmgr/bin

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\Volmgr\bin

To deassign a catalog volume

1 Obtain the pool number for the volume by using the vmquery command, as

shown in the following example for volume S04440:

vmquery -m S04440==================================================================media ID:S04440

media type:8MM cartridge tape (4)barcode:-------------description:CH_V1|101|S278|00000000volume pool:Offsite_Catalog (3)robot type:NONE - Not Robotic (0)


Restoring data from vaulted media

volume group:vault_grpcreated:Tue Sep 3 10:08:32 2000assigned:Tue May 6 00:11:45 2001last mounted:Tue May 6 11:34:25 2001first mount:Tue Sep 3 18:20:48 2000expiration date:---number of mounts:21max mounts allowed:---status:0x1==================================================================

The pool number is listed on the volume pool line, and is the number in

between the parentheses. In this case, the media ID would be S04440 and

the pool number would be 3.

2 Deassign the volume by using the vmquery command, as in the example

below:

vmquery -deassignbyid S04440 3 1

Restoring data from vaulted mediaYou may need to restore images from media that is stored in your off-site vault.

The high-level procedure in this section describes how to restore data from

vaulted media.

To restore data from vaulted media

1 Recall the media.

2 Change the images to be recovered to primary (NetBackup restores from the

primary image).

Use the bpchangeprimary command to promote a copy to primary. For

information about the bpchangeprimary command, see the NetBackup

Commands for UNIX or NetBackup Commands for Windows guide.

3 If the media is not suspended or frozen, suspend the media.

Use the bpmedia command to suspend the media. For information about

the bpmedia command, see the NetBackup Commands for UNIX or

NetBackup Commands for Windows guide.

4 Inject the media into the robot.

For procedures, see “Injecting media” on page 146.

Injecting the media moves it into the robot and also changes the off-site

volume group attribute of the media to the robotic volume group so

NetBackup knows that the media are in the robot.


Replacing damaged media

5 Using the Backup, Archive, and Restore interface, restore the data. For

procedures, see the NetBackup Backup, Archive, and Restore Getting Started

Guide.

6 After restoring all the data, revault the media.

For procedures, see “Revaulting unexpired media” on page 160.

Replacing damaged mediaIf media in your robot is damaged, you can use copies of the media (if available)

from your off-site storage location to replace the damaged media. You also can

use this process to recover images if the primary backup has expired, the volume

has been overwritten and a copy in off-site storage is still available.

Note: This image recovery process assumes that the NetBackup system and

image catalog are current and up-to-date.

The instructions use an example to illustrate how to invoke the various

commands used in the recovery process. Modify the command examples as

appropriate for your purposes. Most of the commands used to recover from

damaged media are in the following directory:

UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd

Windows: install_path\netbackup\bin\admincmd

After you recover and restore the damaged media, you should revault the media

so that it again is available for recovery.


To replace damaged media

1 Identify the damaged media.

When you receive an error message during a restore, the errors are logged

to the restore log and also show up on the Activity Monitor as the restore

fails. You can set up a procedure using NetBackup scripts to send errors to

an event management console to notify the storage administrator

immediately of this type of media error.

2 Determine which backup images were on the damaged tape.

All images on a specific tape can be identified by running the bpimmedia

command. It scans the entire NetBackup image catalog, so it may take a few

minutes depending on the size of that catalog. For example, the following

shows that volume S05423 contains one image from client fgolddust. It also

shows that this image has been duplicated because it has (FRAG 2) entries.

The full image name is “fgolddust_0862806643”:



# bpimmedia -mediaid S05423

IMAGE fgolddust 2 fgolddust_0862806643 golddust_BR1 0 Full_Weekly 0 3 19360 8654 85043 0 0FRAG 1 -1 2293 0 2 6 2 S05423 nirvana 64512 0 862804830 3 0 *NULL*FRAG 1 1 232848 0 2 6 1 S02643 nirvana 64512 2 862804830 3 0 *NULL*FRAG 1 2 1225539 0 2 6 2 S02643 nirvana 64512 0 862804830 3 0 *NULL*FRAG 1 3 70182 0 2 6 3 S02643 nirvana 64512 0 862804830 3 0 *NULL*FRAG 1 4 825700 0 2 6 1 S05423 nirvana 64512 2 862808446 3 0 *NULL*FRAG 2 -1 2293 0 2 6 2 S04440 nirvana 32768 0 862927577 2 0 *NULL*FRAG 2 1 2335584 0 2 6 1 S04440 nirvana 32768 2 862927577 2 0 *NULL*

3 Determine which duplicate tapes were used and their host.

In step 2, the (FRAG 2) entries show that an image has been duplicated: the

(FRAG 2 1) entry is the duplicate copy. On copy 1 there were 4 fragments

(usually due to multiplexing). The (FRAG 2 -1) entry is the true image

restore duplicate. In this case, the image fgolddust_0862806643 is using

media S04440 for duplicating all of the original fragments. This is normal

because the original image was multiplexed onto 4 tapes, while the

duplicate was de-multiplexed during image duplication, and could fit on one

tape.

Also note that the host for the media is printed for each fragment, in this

case nirvana. With media servers, the host could be different than the

master server. Under Vault, the duplication should normally occur on the

same server that made the original backup, so the host server names would

be the same for both copies of the image.

You can confirm this information by using bpimagelist command, as

follows:

# bpimagelist -backupid fgolddust_0862806643

IMAGE fgolddust 0 0 2 fgolddust_0862806643 golddust_BR1 0 *NULL* root Full_Weekly 0 3 862806643 4591 865485043 0 0 2356562 19360 2 7 1 golddust_BR1_0862806643_FULL.f *NULL* *NULL* 0 1 0 2 865830643 *NULL* 1 0 0 0 0 *NULL*HISTO -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1FRAG 1 -1 2293 0 2 6 2 S05423 nirvana 64512 0 862804830 3 0 *NULL*FRAG 1 1 232848 0 2 6 1 S02643 nirvana 64512 2 862804830 3 0 *NULL*FRAG 1 2 1225539 0 2 6 2 S02643 nirvana 64512 0 862804830 3 0 *NULL*



FRAG 1 3 70182 0 2 6 3 S02643 nirvana 64512 0 862804830 3 0 *NULL*FRAG 1 4 825700 0 2 6 1 S05423 nirvana 64512 2 862808446 3 0 *NULL*FRAG 2 -1 2293 0 2 6 2 S04440 nirvana 32768 0 862927577 2 0 *NULL*FRAG 2 1 2335584 0 2 6 1 S04440 nirvana 32768 2 862927577 2 0 *NULL*

To confirm which is the primary copy (the copy to be used for restores), use

the -L option with bpimagelist, as follows:

UNIX: # bpimagelist -L -backupid fgolddust_0862806643 | grep PrimaryPrimary Copy: 1Windows: bpimagelist -L -backupid fgolddust_0862806643 | find PrimaryPrimary Copy: 1

4 Tell NetBackup to use the duplicated copy rather than the original.

Execute the bpimage -npc command and option to change the primary

copy. The new primary copy is used for restoring an image:

# bpchangeprimary -copy 2 -id fgolddust_0862806643 -cl fgolddust

To confirm the new primary copy, use the following command:

UNIX: # bpimagelist -L -backupid fgolddust_0862806643 | grep PrimaryPrimary Copy: 2Windows: bpimagelist -L -backupid fgolddust_0862806643 | find "Primary"Primary Copy: 2

5 Freeze the duplicated copy to ensure restore.

Use the command bpmedia -freeze to prevent NetBackup from expiring

the images on the media and to ensure the media is assigned in Media

Manager. You should also use the media host for this image, which was

printed by bpimmedia in step 2. This is required when the host is different

than the machine on which you are running this command.

bpmedia -freeze -m S04440 -host nirvana

6 Recall media from the vault.

Recall the appropriate volume from off-site storage. To determine the

media ID, slot number, or container ID of the tape to recall, you can use the

vmquery command, located in the following directory:

UNIX: /usr/openv/volmgr/bin

Windows:install_path\volmgr\bin.

In the following example, the slot number (S278) is listed in the vault slot

field:

vmquery -m S04440==================================================================



media ID: S04440media type: 8MM cartridge tape (4)barcode: S04440media description: Added by Media Managervolume pool: Vaulted_CustomerDB (2)robot type: NONE - Not Robotic (0)volume group: DB_offsite_volumesvault name: Customer_DB_Vaultvault sent date: ---vault return date: ---vault slot: S278vault session id: 1created: Tue Sep 3 10:08:32 2000assigned: Tue May 6 00:11:45 2001last mounted: Tue May 6 11:34:25 2001first mount: Tue Sep 3 18:20:48 2000expiration date: ---number of mounts: 21max mounts allowed: ---==================================================================

7 Inject recalled media back into the robot.

When the tape is returned from the off-site vendor, inject it into the

appropriate robotic library. First Insert the tape into the robot media access

port. Then, from the NetBackup Administration Console, choose Media and

Devices Management. Choose the Inventory Robot... option. Select the

Empty Media Access Port Prior to Update checkbox.

You can also perform this function using the vltinject command.

8 Perform a normal restore.

Perform a normal restore operation. The restore should read from the new

primary copy. The restore log should show a mount request for the

duplicate media.

9 Unfreeze media used for duplicates.

After the restore is successful, unfreeze the duplicate media to allow the

normal expiration process to be followed. If you want to send the tape

off-site again, either remove it from the robot or leave it in the robot as the

primary copy. Symantec recommends that you suspend the media so that

no images are written to it.

bpmedia -unfreeze -m S04440 -host nirvana

10 Create new duplicate images.

Optionally, you can create new duplicate images for transfer to your off-site

vault vendor.

See “Bad or missing duplicate tape” on page 235.

11 Modify the NetBackup catalog for a large number of images.



In a disaster recovery situation in which a large number of images need to

have their primary copy modified, run the bpchangeprimary command.

This command will change the primary copy of all the backup images in the

off-site volume pool for which the media was returned from the off-site

vault.

Chapter 7

Creating originals or

copies concurrently

You can create multiple copies of a backup image concurrently. Those copies are

created concurrently by the Inline Tape Copy feature. For more information, see

the following:

■ “Understanding concurrent copies” on page 177

■ “Continue or fail for concurrent copies” on page 178

■ “Creating original images concurrently” on page 180

■ “Creating duplicate images concurrently” on page 181

Understanding concurrent copiesYou can create up to four copies of the same backup image concurrently. If the

images are created during a NetBackup policy job, all are considered original

images. If the images are duplicated by using the NetBackup Administration

Console Catalog node or during a Vault job, they are considered duplicate

images.

NetBackup must be configured to allow a sufficient number of copies in the

Maximum Backup Copies field for the NetBackup master server. (Configured in

NetBackup Management > Host Properties > Master Server > server_name >

Global NetBackup Attributes.) By default, the value is two.

All storage units must be connected to the same media server. Also, the storage

unit must be configured to allow a sufficient number of concurrent jobs to

support the concurrent copies (Maximum Concurrent Jobs or Maximum

Concurrent Drives Used for Backup setting). You can write images concurrently

to the following storage units:

178 Creating originals or copies concurrently

Continue or fail for concurrent copies

■ Media Manager storage units. If the Media Manager storage unit has more

than one drive, the source and destination storage units can be the same.

■ Disk storage units.

■ Disk staging storage units.

■ Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) storage units only during Vault

duplication and only one copy is allowed per duplication rule (NDMP is not

supported during original backup). If the NDMP storage unit has more than

one drive, the source and destination storage units can be the same.

Although specifying an NDMP storage unit restricts the number of copies to

one, you can use multiple duplication rules to specify other storage units for

images created by other media servers. For example, you can use one

duplication rule to read an image from one media server and write a copy to

an NDMP storage unit and use another duplication rule to read an image

from a different media server and write copies to other storage units. (To

specify multiple duplication rules in a Vault profile, select Advanced

Configuration on the Profile dialog box Duplication tab.) Because of

potential NDMP performance limitations, Symantec suggests that you

duplicate between disk and tape drives that are directly attached to the

same NDMP host.

If you create multiple original images concurrently during a NetBackup policy

job, the backup time required may be longer than for one copy. Also, if you

specify both Media Manager and disk storage units, the duration of disk write

operations will match that of slower removable media write operations.

You cannot create images concurrently using the following:

■ Storage unit groups

■ Optical devices

■ Quarter-inch cartridge (QIC) devices

■ Third-party copies

Continue or fail for concurrent copiesWhen making multiple copies of images concurrently, you can choose how an

operation will behave if one of the copies fails. Your choice also can determine

whether copies will be ejected, depending on the success or failure of the copy

operation. It is possible for a duplication operation to succeed but no ejection to

occur.

In NetBackup, your continue or fail choice affects only the current image copy;

in Vault, your choice affects all copies of that image. By default, the option is

configured to Continue in NetBackup and to Fail All Copies in Vault.

179Creating originals or copies concurrently

Continue or fail for concurrent copies

Continue copiesIf you choose Continue for all copies, the concurrent copy job is considered


image may never get vaulted; it is probable that at least one copy will succeed,

but it may not be the copy assigned to the off-site volume pool for ejection.

To ensure that media are ejected even if a concurrent copy operation fails

during a NetBackup policy backup, do one of the following:

■ Configure a Vault profile to duplicate the image, assign the copy to the

off-site volume pool, and select Fail All Copies. If the copy fails during the

original NetBackup backup job, the Vault profile will subsequently duplicate

it. If the copy succeeds during the original backup job, the Vault profile will

not duplicate it. Either way, a copy will be ejected for transfer off site.

■ Monitor the Activity Monitor for a failed status for the copy that is assigned

to the off-site volume pool. If that copy fails, duplicate that image and

assign it to the off-site volume pool so it will be ejected. You can use the

Administration Console Catalog node or the bpduplicate command to

duplicate the copy.

Fail all copiesThe behavior of the fail option and the default settings depend on whether the

concurrent copies operation was configured in Vault or in NetBackup:

■ In Vault, if you choose Fail All Copies, all copies of that image will fail,

independent of the success or failure of other image copy operations. The

next time the Vault profile runs, Vault will again try to duplicate the image if

the following conditions are true:



■ In NetBackup, if you choose Fail All Copies, the entire backup job will fail

and no copies will be made. In this case, normal NetBackup behavior will

ensure that a successful backup for this policy eventually occurs. That is,

NetBackup will automatically retry the backup if time permits and, the next

time the backup window for the policy opens, NetBackup will again try to

run the backup (regardless of the frequency of the schedule). NetBackup will

do this until the backup succeeds, although one or more backup windows

may pass before the backup is successful.


Creating original images concurrently

Creating original images concurrentlyIn a NetBackup policy job, you can create multiple original backup images

concurrently. Vaulting original images has many benefits, including easier

configuration of Vault, fewer chances for resource contention, and possibly

fewer drives required.

To create multiple backup images concurrently through the policy node

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, expand Master Server >

NetBackup Management > Policies.

2 Double-click an existing policy or:

■ Windows: select Actions > New > New Policy

■ UNIX: click Add New Policy to create a new policy.

3 Select the Schedules tab.

4 Double-click an existing schedule or click New to create a new schedule.

The Schedule dialog box appears.

5 In the Schedule Attributes tab, select Multiple Copies, then click Configure.

The Configure Multiple Copies dialog box appears.

6 Specify the number of copies to be created simultaneously.

The maximum is four. Copy 1 is the primary copy. If copy 1 fails, the first


7 Specify the priority of the duplication job for each copy, from 0 to 99999.


Creating duplicate images concurrently

A larger number is higher priority. All copies are duplicated at the same

priority.

8 Specify the storage unit where each copy will be stored.

If a Media Manager storage unit has more than one drive, it can be used for

both the source and the destination. Network Data Management Protocol

(NDMP) storage units are not supported when creating multiple copies

during a NetBackup policy job.

9 Specify the volume pool to which each copy will be assigned.

10 Select the retention level for each copy.

If you select No Change, the expiration date will be the same for the

duplicate and original copies.

If you select a different retention period, the expiration date of the copy is

the backup date plus the retention period. For example, if a backup was

created on November 14, 2003, and its retention period is one week, the new

copy’s expiration date is November 21, 2003.

11 Select whether to Continue the other copies if a copy operation fails or to

Fail All Copies.

12 Specify who should own the media onto which NetBackup writes the images:

■ Any lets NetBackup choose the media owner, either a media server or

server group.

■ None specifies that the media server that writes to the media owns the

media. No media server is specified explicitly, but you want a media


■ A server group. All media server groups configured in your NetBackup

environment appear in the drop-down list. Specifying a media server

group allows only those media servers in the group to write to the

media on which backup images for this policy are written.

13 Click OK.

14 Configure other schedule criteria as appropriate.

Creating duplicate images concurrentlyYou can create multiple duplicate backup images concurrently either by using

the NetBackup Catalog node or by configuring the Duplication tab of a Vault

profile. Duplication is not always possible, so you must understand when you

can use duplication in NetBackup.



When duplication is possibleThe following describes when duplication is and is not possible in NetBackup:

If you do multiplexed duplication, be aware of the following:

■ When duplicating multiplexed SQL-BackTrack backups with multiplex mode

enabled, it is necessary to duplicate all of the backups in the multiplexed

group. This ensures that the fragment order and size is maintained in the

duplicate. Otherwise, it is possible that restores from the duplicated backups

will not work. A multiplexed group is a set of backups that were multiplexed

together during a single multiplexing session.

■ When duplicating multiplexed backups, the multiplex settings of the

destination storage unit and the original schedule are ignored. However, if

multiple multiplexed groups are duplicated, the grouping within each

multiplexed group is maintained. This means that the duplicated groups will

have a multiplexing factor that is no greater than that used during the

original backup.

■ If all backups in a multiplexed group are duplicated to a storage unit that has

the same characteristics as the one where the original backup was created,

the duplicated group will be identical, with the following exceptions:

■ If end of media (EOM) is encountered on either the source or

destination media.

Table 7-23 Possible circumstances for duplicating a Vault profile

Possible to duplicate backups: Not possible to duplicate backups:

■ From one storage unit to another.

■ From one media density to another.

■ From one server to another.

■ From multiplex to nonmultiplex format.

■ From multiplex format and retain the multiplex

format on the duplicate. The duplicate can

contain all or any subset of the backups that were

included in the original multiplexed group. This

is done with a single pass of the tape. (A

multiplexed group is a set of backups that were

multiplexed together during a single session.)

■ While the backup is being created (unless you create

multiple backup images concurrently during the

backup job).

■ While any other backup image is being written to a

tape that contains the source primary backup.

■ When the primary backup image is not available.

■ By using the NetBackup scheduler to schedule

duplications automatically (unless you use a Vault

policy to schedule duplication).of the NetBackup

catalogs.

■ When it is a multiplexed image of the following:

– Auspex FastBackup

– NDMP backup

– Backups to or from disk type storage units

– Nonmultiplexed backups



■ If any of the fragments in the source backups are zero length (which

can occur if many multiplexed backups start at the same time), during

duplication these zero-length fragments are removed.

Concurrent copies through the catalog nodeUse the following procedure to create concurrent copies of backup images

manually through the NetBackup Administration Console Catalog node.

For more information, see the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I.

To duplicate backup images concurrently through the catalog node

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, expand Master Server >

NetBackup Management > Catalog.

2 In the Action field, select Duplicate.

3 Select the search criteria for the image you want to duplicate, then click

Search Now.

4 Right-click the image you want to duplicate and select Duplicate from the

shortcut menu.



5 The Setup Duplication Variables dialog box appears.

6 Specify the number of copies to be created.

If enough drives are available, the copies will be created simultaneously.

Otherwise, the system may require operator intervention if, for example,

four copies are to be created and there are only two drives.

7 Specify the priority of the duplication job for each copy, from 0 to 99999.

A larger number is higher priority. All copies are duplicated at the same

priority.

8 If you want one of the duplicated copies to become the primary copy, check

the appropriate box.

NetBackup restores from the primary backup, and Vault duplicates from

the primary backup. By default, the original backup image created during a




9 Specify the storage unit where each copy will be stored.

If a Media Manager or NDMP storage unit has more than one drive, it can be

used for both the source and destination. Network Data Management

Protocol (NDMP) storage units are supported only when one copy is created.

10 Specify the volume pool to which each copy will be assigned.


duplicate copy is not the same as the media ID of the volume that contains

the original backup. Because of this potential deadlock, specify a different

volume pool to ensure a different volume is used.

11 To change the retention level for the copy, select one of the retention level

options.

If No Change is selected for the retention period, the expiration date is the

same for the duplicate and source copies.

If you specify a numeric retention level, the expiration date for the copy is

the backup date plus the retention period. For example, if a backup was

created on November 14, 2001 and its retention period is one week, the new

copy’s expiration date is November 21, 2001.

12 Specify whether the remaining copies should continue or fail if the specified

copy fails.

13 Specify who should own the media onto which NetBackup writes the images:

■ Any lets NetBackup choose the media owner, either a media server or

server group.










14 If the selection includes multiplexed backups and the backups are to remain

multiplexed in the duplicate, select Preserve Multiplexing.

If you do not duplicate all the backups in a multiplexed group, the duplicate

will have a different layout of fragments. (A multiplexed group is a set of

backups that were multiplexed together during a single session.)

By default, duplication occurs serially using the fewest media mounts and

least tape positioning time. Only one backup is processed at a time. If

Preserve Multiplexing is enabled, NetBackup first duplicates all backups

that cannot be multiplex duplicated before the multiplexed backups are

duplicated.

15 Click OK to start duplicating.

16 Click the Results tab, then select the duplication job just created to view the

job results.

Concurrent copies during basic duplicationYou can create multiple duplicate images concurrently in Vault by selecting

either Multiple Copies on the basic Duplication tab or Advanced Configuration

on the basic Duplication tab, which displays the advanced duplication criteria.

You can use the following instructions to create multiple copies concurrently

from the basic Duplication tab.



Instructions for configuring duplication in Vault also are included in

“Duplication tab” on page 98. The following is the basic Duplication tab:

To create multiple copies concurrently by using the basic duplication tab

1 Indicate whether the images you want to duplicate reside on disk storage

units only or on disk and/or media storage units.

2 Enter the number of drives to be used for reading backup images for

duplication.

When you enter a number of read drives, the same number will be entered

into the destination Write Drives field. You must have an equivalent

number of read and write drives available.

3 To use a media server that is different from the server that wrote the

images, check Alternate Read Server and select the media server to use.


If robots (or drives) are shared by more than one media server, you can

specify a different media server to read the original backups than the media

server that wrote the backups.

4 Select Multiple Copies, then click Configure.



The Multiple Copies dialog box appears.

5 Select the number of copies to create.

The number of copies you can choose cannot exceed the number of copies

specified in the Maximum Backup Copies field for the NetBackup master

server. (Configured in NetBackup Management > Host Properties > Master

Server > server_name > Global NetBackup Attributes.) By default, the value

is two, which means one original backup and one copy.

6 If you want one of the copies to be the primary copy, select which copy is to

be primary.


the primary backup. By default, the original backup image creating during a




7 Specify the storage unit to be used for the duplication.

If the Media Manager or NDMP storage unit has more than one drive, the

source and destination storage units can be the same.

Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) storage units are supported

only when one copy is created.

Note: All storage units must be connected to the same media server.

8 Specify a volume pool for each copy.


duplicate copy is not the same as that of the piece of media that contains the

original backup. Because of this potential deadlock, specify a different

volume pool to ensure a different piece of media is used.

9 Specify the retention level for each copy.



Each image copy can have a separate expiration date. If you do not specify a

retention level, it is the same as the primary copy. If you specify a numeric

retention level, the expiration date for the duplicate media is calculated by

adding the specified retention period to the date the original backup was

created. If you specify Use Mappings for the retention level, the retention

period is based on the retention period of backup image copy 1.

For more information, see “Assigning multiple retentions with one profile”

on page 156.

When the retention period expires, information about the expired backup

will be deleted from the NetBackup and Media Manager catalog, the volume

will be recalled from off-site storage, and the backup image will be

unavailable for a restore.

10 Indicate what action is to be taken if a copy fails.



next time the Vault profile runs, Vault will again try to duplicate the image

if the following conditions are true:





successful if any of the copies succeed. However, it is possible that a copy of

the image may never get vaulted; it is probable that at least one copy will

succeed, but it may not be the copy assigned to the off-site volume pool.

11 Specify who should own the media onto which you are duplicating images:

■ Any lets NetBackup choose the media owner.








12 Click OK to return to the basic Duplication tab.

13 Specify the priority of the Vault duplication jobs, from 0 to 99999. A larger


priority.


regularly scheduled backups) for resources, including tape drives. If you

want your Vault duplication jobs to obtain resources before other processes,



assign a higher priority to the Vault jobs than to other NetBackup

processes. Priority for backups, restores, and synthetic backups is assigned

in the master server Global Properties.

14 To preserve multiplexing, select Preserve Multiplexing.

Multiplexing is the process of sending concurrent-multiple backup images

from one or more clients to the same piece of media. This process speeds up

duplication but slows down restores and disaster recovery processes. If the

option to preserve multiplexing is selected, the multiplexed duplication

process will occur for all multiplexed images that are selected for

duplication during a given Vault session.

Note: If the source image is multiplexed and the Preserve Multiplexing option is



Storage Units.

15 Select Duplicate Smaller Images First to duplicate images in smallest to

largest order.

By default, Vault duplicates images from largest to smallest, which

improves tape drive utilization during duplication and duplicates more data

sooner. If you know that your most important data is in smaller backup

images, you can select this option so that those images are duplicated

before the larger images. This choice does not affect the total time required

to duplicate the images.

16 Check Expire Original Disk Backup Images... and then enter the number of

hours after this Vault session completes to expire the disk images.

Use this option to free up space on the disk for subsequent backup images.

Be sure you allow enough time for the duplication operation to be

completed.

If the duplication of a disk image fails, the disk image will not be expired.

17 After you have completed the dialog box, click OK.

Concurrent copies during advanced duplicationYou can use the following instructions to create multiple copies concurrently

from the advanced configuration criteria of the Vault profile Duplication tab.

Instructions for configuring duplication in Vault also are included in

“Duplication tab” on page 98.



The following shows the Duplication tab when Advanced Configuration has been

selected:

To create multiple copies concurrently by using advanced configuration

options

1 On the Duplication tab, select Advanced Configuration.

The dialog box changes to display more advanced duplication options.

2 To use a server that is different from the server that wrote the images, check

Alternate Read Server.


If robots (or drives) are shared by more than one media server, you can

designate a different media server to read the original backups than the

media server that wrote the backups.

If you select Alternate Read Server, the SOURCE area displays an Alternate

Read Server column heading.

3 To add a destination media server and duplication rules for that server, click

New.



The Duplication Rule dialog box appears. If you selected Alternate Read

Server on the Duplication tab, the Duplication Rule dialog box will have

fields for both source Media Server and Alternate Read Server. If you did

not select Alternate Read Server, only a source Backup Server field appears.

4 Select the source Backup Server or, if you selected Alternate Read Server on

the Duplication tab, select the source Media Server.

5 If you selected Alternate Read Server on the Duplication tab, select an

Alternate Read Server.


The source media server and alternate read server may be the same.

6 Select the number of copies to create.

You can create up to 4 or the number of copies specified in the Maximum

Backup Copies field for the NetBackup master server (if less than 4).

(Configured in NetBackup Management > Host Properties > Master Server

> server_name > Global NetBackup Attributes.) By default, the value is two:

one original backup and one copy.

7 If you want one of the copies to be the primary copy, select which copy is to

be primary.


the primary backup. By default, the original backup image creating during a






8 Specify the storage unit to be used for the duplication.

If the Media Manager or NDMP storage unit has more than one drive, the

source and destination storage units can be the same. Network Data

Management Protocol (NDMP) storage units are supported only when one

copy is created.

Note: All storage units must be connected to the same media server.

9 Specify a volume pool for each copy.


duplicate copy is not the same as that of the piece of media that contains the

original backup. Because of this potential deadlock, specify a different

volume pool to ensure a different piece of media is used.

10 Specify the retention level for each copy.

Each image copy can have a separate expiration date. If you do not specify a

retention level, it is the same as the primary copy. If you specify a numeric

retention level, the expiration date for the duplicate media is calculated by

adding the specified retention period to the date the original backup was

created. If you specify Use Mappings for the retention level, the retention

period is based on the retention period of backup image copy 1.

For more information, see “Assigning multiple retentions with one profile”

on page 156.

When the retention period expires, information about the expired backup

will be deleted from the NetBackup and Media Manager catalog, the volume

will be recalled from off-site storage, and the backup image will be

unavailable for a restore.

11 Indicate what action is to be taken if a copy fails.



next time the vault profile runs, Vault will again try to duplicate the image

if the following conditions are true:





successful if any of the copies succeed. However, it is possible that a copy of



the image may never get vaulted; it is probable that at least one copy will

succeed, but it may not be the copy assigned to the off-site volume pool.

12 Specify who should own the media onto which you are duplicating images:

■ Any lets NetBackup choose the media owner.








13 Click OK to return to the Duplication tab.

14 Specify the priority of the Vault duplication jobs, from 0 to 99999. A larger


priority.


regularly scheduled backups) for resources, including tape drives. If you

want your Vault duplication jobs to obtain resources before other processes,

assign a higher priority to the Vault jobs than to other NetBackup

processes. Priority for backups, restores, and synthetic backups is assigned

in the master server Global Properties.

15 Indicate whether you want to preserve multiplexing.

Multiplexing is the process of sending concurrent-multiple backup images

from one or more clients to the same piece of media. This process speeds up

duplication but slows down restores and disaster recovery processes. If the

option to preserve multiplexing is selected, the multiplexed duplication

process will occur for all multiplexed images that are selected for

duplication during a given Vault session.

Note: If the source image is multiplexed and the Preserve Multiplexing option is



Storage Units.

16 Select Duplicate Smaller Images First to duplicate images in smallest to

largest order.

By default, Vault duplicates images from largest to smallest, which

improves tape drive utilization during duplication and duplicates more data

sooner. If you know that your most important data is in smaller backup

images, you can select this option so that those images are duplicated



before the larger images. This choice does not affect the total time required

to duplicate the images.

17 Check Expire Original Disk Backup Images... and then enter the number of

hours after this Vault session completes to expire the disk images.

Use this option to free up space on the disk for subsequent backup images.

Be sure you allow enough time for the duplication operation to be

completed.

If the duplication of a disk image fails, the disk image will not be expired.

18 Click OK.

Chapter 8

Reporting

The reports for each profile are configured in the profile dialog box Reports tab.

When you configure a Vault profile, you specify which reports should be

generated, when they should be generated, and how and to whom they should be

distributed.

After reports are generated and distributed, you can view and print them until

the Vault logs for that session are deleted. To view sample Vault reports and log

files for this release, refer to the following file on the Symantec Support Web

site.

Examples of NetBackup 6.5 Vault reports and log files,

http://support.veritas.com/docs/287612


■ “Generating reports” on page 195


■ “Viewing reports” on page 200


Related Topics


■ “Vault session log files” on page 222

Generating reportsIf the reports for a profile are configured as immediate, the reports are

generated when the profile runs. If the reports for a profile are deferred, you can

use one of the following methods to generate the reports after the profile runs:

■ By invoking the Deferred Eject option in the Administration Console and

then selecting Generate Reports After Eject.



196 Reporting

Generating reports

■ By using the Vault Operator Menu interface.

■ By using the vlteject command.

■ By using a Vault policy that invokes the vlteject command.

When you generate reports, the reports that are selected on the profile dialog

box Reports tab are generated and distributed to the destinations specified.

Reports can be generated for one session or for multiple sessions. Generating

reports and ejecting media from more than one vault session is known as

consolidating your reports and ejections. For example, you may duplicate images

daily but eject media and generate reports only at the end of the week.

Related Topics

■ “Ejecting media by using the NetBackup Administration Console” on

page 142



Generating reports by using the Vault operator menuYou can use the Vault Operator Menu to generate reports.

To generate reports by using the Vault operator menu




■ Run Reports for This Session

■ Run Individual Reports

■ Consolidate All Reports

■ Consolidate All Reports and Ejects

Consolidating reports and ejects also ejects media.

4 Continue as prompted by the Vault Operator Menu.

Generating reports by using the vlteject commandYou can use the vlteject command with the -report option to generate

reports from the command line. The following is the syntax for the command

that generates all reports that have not yet been generated:

vlteject -report

You also can specify a robot, vault, profile, or session for which to generate

reports.

197Reporting

Generating reports

If the corresponding eject process has been completed, pending reports from the

sessions selected are generated and distributed. The reports will not be

generated again if vlteject is run again. If eject has not been completed, the

subset of reports that do not depend on completion of eject will be generated;

these reports will be generated again if vlteject -report is run again after

eject has been completed.







Commands for UNIX or NetBackup Commands for Windows manual.

To generate reports by using the vlteject command


vlteject command resides.


Generating reports by using a Vault policyYou can use a Vault policy to generate reports for Vault sessions that have been

completed already and for which reports have not been generated. In the Vault

policy, specify Vault as the policy type, do not specify clients, and specify the

vlteject command with the -report option on the Backup Selections tab.

You also can specify a robot, vault, profile, or session for which to generate

reports.

If the corresponding eject process has been completed, pending reports from the

sessions selected are generated and distributed. The reports will not be

generated again if vlteject is run again.

If eject has not been completed, the subset of reports that do not depend on

completion of eject will be generated and distributed. These reports will be

generated again if vlteject is run again.




198 Reporting

Consolidating reports




Commands for UNIX or NetBackup Commands for Windows manual.

To create a Vault policy that generates reports


> Policies.




4 Click OK.






8 Bypass the Client tab (clients are not specified for Vault jobs).

9 On the Backup Selections tab, enter the vlteject command with the

-report option and any other appropriate options.

10 Click OK.


Note: If you consolidate reports, you should also consolidate ejects.

You can generate reports and eject media from more than one vault session,

which is known as consolidating your reports and ejections. For example, you

may duplicate images daily but eject media and generate reports only at the end

of the week. To do so, specify deferred reports on the Reports tab and deferred

eject on the Eject tab for each profile for which you want to consolidate reports.

Then, eject the media and generate the reports.

See “Ejecting media” on page 140.

When you generate the reports, you select the robot, vault, or profile sessions

for which reports were deferred (that is, for reports that are pending).

You can consolidate the following:

199Reporting


■ All sessions for a profile.

■ All sessions for a vault.

■ All sessions for a robot.

■ All sessions for all vaults.

A consolidated report includes information from all sessions in which that

report is specified in the profile. For example, a consolidated Picking List for

Robot will include the appropriate media from all sessions whose profile has

Picking List for Robot selected on the Reports tab.

The following defines the elements of a consolidated report:

In the Recovery Report, the earliest date range among the consolidated sessions

is the end date, and the Recovery Report is generated from the current date and

time to that end date. Time ranges specified in individual profiles will be used to

generate the reports. Each time range will be calculated based on the start time

of the individual sessions participating in the consolidated report.

If eject has not been completed, the subset of reports that do not depend on

completion of eject will be generated; these reports will be generated again if

deferred reports are run again.

If you consolidate reports and also rename reports, use the same customized

report title for all profiles whose reports will be consolidated. The customized

report title is printed on the report and appears in the e-mail subject line if you

e-mail the reports.

Table 8-24 Consolidated reports elements

Report element Description

Report Header Includes the following:

■ Identifies the report as a consolidated report.

■ The robots, vaults, or profiles that are included

in the report.

■ The sessions included in the report.

Report Body Shows media from all sessions included in the

consolidation in which the report is selected on the

profile Reports tab. If media applies to more than

one session, only the information from the most

recent session is included; similarly for containers,

only the container information from the most recent

session appears.

Summary Shows the same information as in a nonconsolidated

report.

200 Reporting

Viewing reports

Note: Reports cannot be consolidated between vaults that use slots and vaults

that use containers.

Old Style Consolidated Reports

Consolidated reports in previous releases of Vault simply concatenated the same

reports from each session together. One advantage of that style is that you can

consolidate reports from slot and container based vaults, which you cannot do

with the new style of consolidated report.

If you prefer the old style of consolidated reports, you can use the vlteject

command -report and -legacy options to consolidate the reports in that old

style. If you currently do immediate reports, you will have to change to deferred

reports and either run the vlteject command manually or create a Vault

policy to schedule the vlteject -report -legacy job. If you currently do

deferred reports, you can add the -legacy option to the vlteject command

you use to generate reports.

Related Topics

■ “Consolidating ejects” on page 146




Viewing reportsYou can use the NetBackup Administration Console to view and print reports for

Vault sessions for which reports have already been generated. You can only view

reports if the session directory for that vault still exists. Only some of the

reports will be valid; for example, the picking list reports are only valid on the

date they were generated.

To view Vault reports

1 Select NetBackup Management > Reports > Vault Reports.

2 Select one of the Vault reports or report types.

When you select a report or report type, the Reports window is displayed.

The Reports window includes a Report Settings area and a report contents

window.

3 Enter or select the appropriate values for the report you want to generate.

Usually, you must specify a profile and a session ID; you also may have to

specify a date range or time period.

201Reporting

Vault report types

4 Click Run Report.

5 To print the report, click File > Print.

Vault report typesThe following reports and types of reports are available in Vault:

■ Reports for media going off-site

■ Reports for media coming on-site

■ Inventory reports

■ Container inventory report

■ Recovery Report for Vault

■ Lost Media report

■ Non-vaulted Images Exception report

■ Iron mountain FTP file

Reports for media going off-siteThe reports for media going off-site show media that have been ejected from the

robot and will be transported off-site. They vary in the amount of detail included

in each report. Media on these reports are from the eject.list file for the

session or, for consolidated reports, the combined eject.list files of all

unreported vault jobs (an unreported vault job is one that ejects media but does

not generate reports).

Picking List for Robot

The Picking List for Robot report shows the volumes ejected from the robot that

should be transported off-site. This report is sorted by media ID and should be

used by the operations staff as a checklist for media that has been ejected from

the robots. You can save the report for tracking purposes, or you can reprint it

as long as the session directory still exists.

Table 8-25 Columns in the Picking List for Robot report

Column Description

IMAGES The number of images on the volume. For Vault catalog backup media from releases

earlier than NetBackup 6.0, displays zero.

202 Reporting

Vault report types

Distribution List for Vault

The Distribution List for Vault report shows the volumes that have been ejected

from the robot and will be transported off-site. This report is sorted by off-site

slot number or container number and should accompany the media that is

destined for the off-site vault. The vault vendor should use this report to verify

that all the volumes listed were actually received.

CONTAINER ID The ID of the container in which the volume will reside in the vault. (Container vaulting

only.)

EJECTED Yes or No.

EXPIRATION Date when the images on the volume expire. For Vault catalog backup media, displays

the date calculated as a return date during the volume assignment.

MBYTES The size in megabytes of images on the volume. For Vault catalog backup media from

releases earlier than NetBackup 6.0, the field is empty.

CATEGORY The type of media:

■ NBU. NetBackup media that contains backup images.

■ New NBU CTLG. Catalog backup media from NetBackup 6.0 and later releases.

■ Old NBU CTLG. Catalog backup media from NetBackup releases earlier than 6.0

■ Add-on. Media not managed by NetBackup, such as VSM media.

MEDIA The ID of the media.

ROBOT The number of the robot from which the media was ejected. (Consolidated report only.)

SLOT ID The ID of the slot in which the volume will reside at the off-site vault. (Slot vaulting

only.)

Table 8-25 Columns in the Picking List for Robot report

Column Description

Table 8-26 Columns in the Distribution List for Vault report

Column Description



CONTAINER ID The ID of the container in which the volume resides in the vault. (Container vaulting

only.)

EJECTED Yes or No.



203Reporting

Vault report types

Detailed Distribution List for Vault

The Detailed Distribution List for Vault report shows the volumes that have

been ejected from the robot and will be transported off-site. This report is

similar to the Picking List for Robot and Distribution List for Vault reports

except that it includes detailed information about the images on each volume.

Because backup jobs can span volumes, fragments of a backup image may

appear on more than one volume. If two or more fragments of the same image

are on one volume, they are reported on one line rather than on a separate line

for each fragment (that is, each image is listed once for every media its

fragments reside on).

This report is useful at a disaster recovery site. Symantec recommends that you

send this report off-site.









RETURN DATE The date the container should be returned from the off-site vault.

SLOT ID The ID of the slot in which the volume resides in the off-site vault. (Slot vaulting only.)

VAULT The name of the vault to which the volume’s profile belongs. (Consolidated report only.)

Table 8-26 Columns in the Distribution List for Vault report (continued)

Column Description

Table 8-27 Columns in the Detailed Distribution List for Vault report

Column Description

BACKUP ID Identifier that NetBackup assigns when it performs the backup.

CLIENT Name of the client that was backed up.


only.)

EJECTED Yes or No.

204 Reporting

Vault report types

Summary Distribution List for Vault

This report is similar to the Detailed Distribution List for Vault report, except

that the entry for each piece of media will list only a unique client, policy,

schedule and date. That is, if multiple backup jobs for a given client, policy and

schedule (usually seen with RDBMS backups or SAP backups) are written to the

same volume on the same date, only one line of information will be printed out

on this report. The Detailed Distribution List would show each of these backup

jobs as a separate entry, which may generate a very long report. The Summary

Distribution List for Vault report summarizes the information and presents it in





KBYTES The size in kilobytes of the complete backup image. The size of the complete image is

listed even if the image is a fragment. For Vault catalog backup volumes, the field is

empty.

MBYTES The size in megabytes of all images on the volume. For Vault catalog backup media from








PARTIAL Partial images on the volume. The field displays:

■ COMPLETE if all fragments reside on that volume.

■ PARTIAL if some fragments reside on other volumes.

■ EXTRA if the images does not belong to the session.

POLICY Name of the policy that was used to back up the client.

SCHEDULE Name of the schedule that was used to back up the client.



WRITTEN The date the image was written.

Table 8-27 Columns in the Detailed Distribution List for Vault report (continued)

Column Description

205Reporting

Vault report types

a more compact form. This report is also very useful for disaster recovery

situations; we recommend that you send this report off-site.

Reports for media coming on-site The reports for media coming on-site show the volumes that are being requested

back from the off-site vault. These reports can be generated before or after

media has been ejected for the current Vault session. To appear in these reports,

media must:

■ Be in a Vault off-site volume group.

Table 8-28 Columns in the Summary Distribution List for Vault report

Column Description



BACKUP TIME When the backup occurred.

CLIENT Name of the client that was backed up.


only.)

EJECTED Yes or No.















206 Reporting

Vault report types

■ Be in an eject volume pool for a profile in the current vault or in a scratch

pool.

■ Be in any vault if the media is in a scratch pool.

■ Have a non-null return date which has passed when the report is generated

(Catalog backup and VSM media only). Also for VSM media the session ID

should not be zero.

■ Have a vault container value that is non-null (container vaulting only).

■ Be unassigned (NetBackup media only).

Picking List for Vault

The Picking List for Vault report shows the volumes that are being requested

back from the off-site vault. This report should be sent off-site to the vault

vendor.

Volumes are listed on this report because Vault determined that they are in an

off-site volume group and that all images have expired. When Vault identifies

these volumes, it changes the Return Date field for the media and adds the

media ID and date requested to this report.

Expired media appear on this report only once: either on the date the media

expire or the next time the report is generated (if the report is not generated on

the date a volume expires). If media appear on the report but are not recalled,

they will appear on the Lost Media report.

A slot at the off-site vault from which an expired volume is recalled will be

available for use one day after the volume has been physically returned to the

robot.

If you use a scratch pool, this report may include volumes from other profiles or

vaults that have expired and moved back into the scratch pool even if the report

is for a specific Vault profile or session.

Table 8-29 Columns in the Picking List for Vault report

Column Description


only.)

DENSITY Density of the volume.

LAST MOUNT The date the volume was last mounted. For Vault catalog backup media from releases

earlier than NetBackup 6.0, displays a dash (-). (Session report only; does not appear for

consolidated report.)

LAST SID The session ID of the Vault session that recalled the media.

207Reporting

Vault report types

Distribution List for Robot

The Distribution List for Robot report shows the volumes that are being

requested back from the off-site vault. This report is identical to the Picking List

for Vault, except that it includes the robot to which the media should be

returned. Retain this report to use as a checklist for the media returned from the

off-site vault.










REQUESTED Date when the volume is requested back from the off-site vault.

RETURN DATE The date the container should be returned from the off-site vault. (Container vaulting

only.)



Table 8-29 Columns in the Picking List for Vault report (continued)

Column Description

Table 8-30 Columns in the Distribution List for Robot report

Column Description


only.)


LAST MOUNT The date the volume was last mounted. For Vault catalog backup media from releases

earlier than NetBackup 6.0, displays a dash (-). (Session report only; does not appear for

consolidated report.)

LAST SID The session ID of the Vault session that recalled the media.

208 Reporting

Vault report types

Inventory reports The inventory reports show the location of the media. These reports are not

generated until the media have been ejected.

If you use the NetBackup Administration Console to display an inventory report,

you must select a profile that ejects media. Also, select the most recent session

for that profile so the most recent data is reported.

Vault inventory

The Vault Inventory (or Inventory List for Vault) report shows media that are

off-site at the vault vendor and media being sent off-site (outbound media in

transit to the vault). To appear in this report, media must be:

■ In the off-site volume group.

■ In the current vault or in any vault if the media is in a scratch pool.

■ In an eject volume pool for a profile in the current vault, in a scratch pool, or

in the catalog volume pool.








RETURN DATE The date the container should be returned from the off-site vault. (Container vaulting

only.)

ROBOT The number of the robot in which the media resided. (Consolidated report only.)


Table 8-30 Columns in the Distribution List for Robot report

Column Description

209Reporting

Vault report types

Symantec recommends that you send this report to your vault vendor so they

can verify that they have the volumes that Vault indicates are at the vault

vendor.

Off-site inventory

The Off-site Inventory (or Full Inventory List for Vault) report includes the

information in the Vault Inventory report and also includes any volumes that

have been requested back from the off-site vault vendor (that is, inbound media

in transit). Usually, this report is not generated on a daily basis. Rather, the

Inventory List for Vault report is sent to the vault vendor to perform

verification.




Table 8-31 Columns in the Vault Inventory report

Column Description

ASSIGNED The date when the volume was assigned by NetBackup Media Manager. For Vault catalog

backup media from releases earlier than NetBackup 6.0, displays a dash (-).


only.)

EXPIRATION Date when the images on the volume expire.









Table 8-32 Columns in the Off-site Inventory report

Column Description

ASSIGNED The date when the volume was assigned by NetBackup Media Manager. For Vault catalog

backup media from releases earlier than NetBackup 6.0, displays a dash (-).

210 Reporting

Vault report types

All media inventory

The All Media Inventory (or Complete Inventory List for Vault) report shows all

volumes in the off-site volume pool. To appear in this report, media must be:

■ In the robotic volume group or off-site volume group.

■ In the current vault or in any vault if the media is in a scratch pool.

■ In an eject volume pool for a profile in the current vault or in a scratch pool.




Note: Volumes within the off-site volume pool must belong to either the off-site

volume group or the robotic volume group or they will not appear on this report.


only.)








REQUESTED The date the volume was requested to be returned from the off-site vault.

SLOT ID The ID of the slot in which the volume resides in the vault. (Slot vaulting only.)


Table 8-32 Columns in the Off-site Inventory report (continued)

Column Description

Table 8-33 Columns in the All Media Inventory report

Column Description


only.)


211Reporting

Vault report types

Graphical representation of inventory reports scope

The following illustration shows the different scopes of the reports:

Container inventory report The Container Inventory report shows all the containers configured in your

vaulting environment, the return date of each container, and the media that are

in each container. Alternatively, you can specify a container ID to generate a

report of the media in a specific container.

LOCATION Shows where the volume resides. For a session report, shows Robot or Vault. For a

consolidated report, shows the robot number if the volume is in the robot or the vault

name if the volume is off-site.


REQUESTED The date the volume was requested to be returned from the off-site vault.

SID The ID of the session that duplicated and/or ejected this volume.


Table 8-33 Columns in the All Media Inventory report (continued)

Column Description

212 Reporting

Vault report types

Generate this report only if you vault your media in containers. Reports will not

show container information until after you add container and media IDs in

Vault. Media are removed logically from a container when they are injected back

into the robot.

Recovery Report for Vault The Recovery Report for Vault shows all policies defined on a NetBackup master

server and all media that are required to restore the backups between a given set

of dates. The report displays the date range to which the images on the media

apply.

This report also includes:

■ The three most recent Vault catalog backups in the vault’s off-site volume

group. Only Vault catalog backups appear on this report; NetBackup catalog

backups do not appear even if they have been ejected and transferred off

site.

■ The information from the disaster recovery file generated by the catalog

backup policy.

In a consolidated Recovery report, the earliest date range among the

consolidated sessions is the end date, and the Recovery report is generated from

the current date and time to that end date. Time ranges specified in individual

profiles will be used to generate the reports. Each time range will be calculated

based on the start time of the individual sessions participating in the

consolidated report.

Sending the Recovery report to the vault vendor on a regular basis will help with

disaster recovery efforts. If the master server is destroyed by a disaster, you will

not be able to generate a Recovery report to determine which volumes to request

Table 8-34 Columns in the Container Inventory report

Column Description

CONTAINER ID The ID of the container in which the volume resides in the vault.

LAST SID The last session ID of the profile that accessed this volume.

MEDIA ID ID of the media ID that are in the container.

REQUESTED Date when the container is requested back from the off-site vault.

RETURN DATE The date the container should be returned from the off-site vault.

ROBOT The robot from which the volumes were ejected.

213Reporting

Vault report types

from the vault vendor. Therefore, it is very important that the vault vendor have

a copy of the Recovery report.

Lost Media report The Lost Media report lists expired media that has not been returned from the

off-site vault vendor. Media that appear on the Lost Media report have:

■ An assigned date of 0 or are frozen.

■ A robot number value of null.

■ A vault sent date value that is non-null.

■ A non-null return date.

Media can get lost for various reasons, as follows:

■ A volume appears on the Picking List for Vault only once. If a volume from

that report is missed and is not returned to the robot, it will never again be

listed for recall.

■ Frozen backup media never expires. Media that does not expire will not

appear on the Picking List for Vault and will not be recalled from the vault.

■ You change or rename your off-site volume groups and pools; for example, if

you begin using a new media type, you will have to use a new volume pool

name. Symantec recommends that you do not change or rename group or

pool names.

You must generate the Lost Media report; it is not generated when you eject

media. You do not have to configure your profiles for the Lost Media report.

Table 8-35 Fields in the Recovery Report for Vault

Field Description



CLIENT Name of the client that was backed up. (Excluding catalog backup media.)

MEDIA The ID of the media. (Vault catalog backup media only.)

MEDIA ID The ID of the media. (Excluding catalog backup media.)

WRITTEN The date the catalog backup was written to the volume. (Vault catalog backup media

only.)

VAULT The off-site vault at which the media are stored.

SLOT/CONTAINER The ID of the slot or container in which the volume resides in the off-site vault.

214 Reporting

Vault report types

Usually, media included in the Lost Media report should be returned from

off-site and injected back into the appropriate vault in the robot.

A good practice is to run the Lost Media report periodically, such as weekly or

monthly (depending on your operations).

Non-vaulted Images Exception report The Non-vaulted Images Exception report shows images and media that were

not vaulted when the Vault session was run. When a Non-vaulted Images

Exception report for a given session is generated, the current status of images

(in the preview.list of the session) and the media they reside on is checked for

those that were not vaulted. This report lists the images (from the preview.list

file) and the media that match the Choose backups criteria, and were not vaulted

at the time the report was generated.

If you generate the report after a session runs, images that expired since the

session ran will not be on the report even though they were not vaulted.

Therefore, to use the Non-vaulted Images report effectively, you should

generate it when a session runs and save it so you can refer to it later.

You can save the report by specifying a directory to save the report to on the

Profile dialog box Reports tab.

Reports also are saved in the session directory.

Table 8-36 Columns in the Lost Media report

Column Description


LAST MOUNT The date the volume was last mounted.

MEDIA ID The ID of the media.


VAULT The vault to which the volume belongs.

VOLUME GROUP The volume group to which the volume is assigned.

Table 8-37 Columns in the Non-vaulted Images report

Column Description

ASSIGNED The date when the volume was assigned by NetBackup Media Manager.

BACKUP ID Identifier that NetBackup assigns when it performs the backup.

215Reporting

Vault report types

Iron mountain FTP fileIf Iron Mountain is your vault vendor, you can configure Vault to produce an

Iron Mountain Electronic Format report, which is a file that can include the

following reports:

■ Picking List for Vault (the “P” section)

■ Distribution List for Vault (the “D” section)

■ Vault Inventory report (if you are vaulting in slots) (the “I” section)

■ Container Inventory report (if you are vaulting containers) (the “C” section)

■ Recovery report (the “R” section)

The reports included in the file depend on your selections on the Reports tab of

the Profile dialog box. You must select a report so that it will appear in the Iron

Mountain report file.

The report will be in a format that Iron Mountain’s automated vaulting

mechanism can read and contain the information they require. You can use the

file transfer protocol (FTP) to send the report file to Iron Mountain

electronically, and they use it to update their vaulting mechanism

automatically.

Before you send the report to Iron Mountain, you should verify that the volumes

ejected match the Distribution List for Vault. You should contact Iron Mountain

to determine where and when to send the report.

CREATED The date the volume was created (original backup or duplicated).




ROBOT The number of the Vault robot in which the volume resides. (Consolidated report only.)


SLOT ID The ID of the slot in which the volume resides in the robot. (Slot vaulting only.) (Session

report only; does not appear for consolidated report.)

VOLUME GROUP The group to which the volume is assigned.

VOLUME POOL The pool to which the volume is assigned.

Table 8-37 Columns in the Non-vaulted Images report

Column Description

216 Reporting

Vault report types

Chapter 9

Administering Vault

The following sections provide information about performing the tasks of

managing your Vault configuration.


■ “Administering access to Vault” on page 218

■ “Printing Vault and profile information” on page 220

■ “Copying a profile” on page 220

■ “Moving a Vault to a different robot” on page 221

■ “Changing volume pools and groups” on page 221

■ “Vault session log files” on page 222

■ “General operational issues” on page 224

Setting up E-mailDepending on your computing environment, you may have to configure

NetBackup or your computing environment so that notification e-mail from

NetBackup functions properly.

On UNIX systems, NetBackup uses the sendmail mail transfer agent to send

e-mail. If sendmail is not installed, you must install it and configure your

environment so it functions correctly.

On Windows systems, NetBackup uses the nbmail.cmd script (in

install_path\VERITAS\NetBackup\bin) on the NetBackup master server

to send e-mail. For e-mail notifications, NetBackup passes the e-mail address,

subject, and message to the script, which then uses the mail program specified

in the script to send e-mail. For instructions on configuring the script, see the

comments in the nbmail.cmd script. Default NetBackup behavior:

nbmail.cmd does not send e-mail.

218 Administering Vault

Administering access to Vault

Note: If you use the Blat e-mail client to deliver e-mail on Windows systems,

include the -mime option on the blat command in the nbmail.cmd script so

that the Vault reports are mailed correctly.

For more information about configuring e-mail for NetBackup, see the

NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I.

Administering access to VaultNetBackup provides two mutually exclusive methods for controlling user access:

■ Access Management. Access Management lets you control access to

NetBackup by defining user groups and granting explicit permissions to

these groups. Configuring user groups and assigning permissions is done

using Access Management in the NetBackup Administration Console. Access

Management is the newest and will be the preferred method in future

NetBackup releases.

■ Enhanced Authorization and Authentication. Enhanced authentication

allows each side of a NetBackup connection to verify the host and user on

the other side of the connection. By default, NetBackup runs without

enhanced authentication. Enhanced authorization determines if

authenticated users (or groups of users) have NetBackup administrative

privileges. By default, NetBackup gives administrative privileges to UNIX

root administrators or Windows system administrators on NetBackup

servers.

If both Access Management and Enhanced Authorization and Authentication

are configured, Access Management takes precedence.

For information about configuring and using these methods to control access to

Vault, see the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume II.

Vault Operator user groupNetBackup Access Management is used to define user groups, specify which

actions each user group can perform, and assign users to those user groups.

Each user group can perform only the actions explicitly granted and no others.

When Vault is installed and licensed, NetBackup includes a Vault Operator user

group that has permission to perform the operator actions necessary for the

Vault process. In NetBackup Access Management terminology, the Vault

Operator user group has specific permissions. For a complete list of the

permissions that a Vault operator has, refer to the “Permissions for NetBackup

219Administering Vault

Administering access to Vault

user groups” section in Chapter 4 of the NetBackup Security and Encryption

Guide.

The permissions are granted only in the scope of actions performed in Vault. For

example, the Vault Operator group has permission to update databases — but

only to the extent allowed by Vault, such as when ejecting media changes

volume group information for the volume ejected. As defined in the default

permission sets, the Vault Operator cannot use the NetBackup Administration

Console to change database information that is not related to the operate media

actions.

If you use Access Management to administer access by using the default Vault

Operator group, those permission sets and permissions apply regardless of

whether the actions are invoked from the Vault Operator Menu or the

NetBackup Administration Console.

A NetBackup Security Administrator (a user group defined within NetBackup

Access Management) can use Access Management to add users to the Vault

Operator group and change the permission sets and permissions of the Vault

Operator group. A Security Administrator also can create new user groups to

define new roles.

Because you can change which actions user groups can perform, the Vault

documentation cannot specify which actions are or are not allowed by Access

Management. If an action cannot be performed because of access management

restrictions, NetBackup Administration Console messages will explain the

restriction.

For information about installing Access Management components and using

Access Management, see “Access Management” in the NetBackup

Administrator's Guide, Volume II. Also, for a list of the Vault operator

permissions, refer to “Permissions for NetBackup user groups” section in

Chapter 4 of the NetBackup Security and Encryption Guide.

Caution: Giving operators access to the Vault Operator Menu also gives

operators the capability to change report destinations. If you do not want your

operators to view reports and change report destinations, do not give them

access to the Vault Operator Menu. For example, you may not want your

operators to see the Recovery Report or to be able to change to whom reports are

e-mailed.


Printing Vault and profile information

Printing Vault and profile informationYou can print a list of the information (robots, vaults, or profiles) that is

currently displayed in the Administration Console Details Pane. From the File

menu, choose Print or click the Print icon on the toolbar.

Copying a profileIf you want to create a profile that is similar to another profile, you can copy the

existing profile, rename it, and then change the attributes.

Note: The new profile must belong to the same robot as the original profile.

To copy a profile

1 Highlight the profile you want to copy.

2 Open the Actions menu and select Copy Profile.

The Copy a Profile dialog box displays.

3 From the drop down list under the Vault field, choose the vault in which to

place the new profile.

4 Enter a new name for the profile.

5 Click OK.


Moving a Vault to a different robot

Moving a Vault to a different robotA vault is associated with (that is, belongs to) a specific robot. However, you can

change the robot to which the vault belongs. To do so, right-click on the robot

and select Change. Then complete the dialog box, specifying another robot for

the vault, and click OK.

Note: All vaults that had been associated with the previous robot will now be

associated with the new robot chosen in the dialog box. Some profile

configurations may be invalid under the new robot; for example, if the previous

robot was associated with a media server that the new robot is not associated

with, the configuration will be invalid.

Robots are configured in NetBackup through Media Manager. The action

described here does not change the configuration of a robot in Media Manager.

Changing volume pools and groups

Caution: If you have media in your off-site vault, Symantec recommends that

you do not change or rename your off-site volume group(s) or off-site volume

pool(s). If you begin using new volume pools and groups in your Vault profiles,

the reports that recall expired media will not include the old groups and pools.

If you change to a new off-site volume group and/or off-site volume pool(s), you

can ensure that media are recalled by configuring a profile that only generates

the reports needed to recall media, as follows:

■ Configure a vault that uses the old off-site volume group

■ Configure a profile in that vault that does the following:

■ Selects no images (that is, configure the Choose Backups step so that no

backup images are selected)

■ Skips the Duplication and Catalog Backup steps

■ Specifies the old volume pools in the volume pool list on the Eject step

■ Generates only the Picking List for Vault and Distribution List for

Robot reports

■ Schedule the profile to run on a regular basis

Media in the old off-site volume group and in the old volume pool(s) will be

recalled from off-site storage as they expire. After each volume is recalled and

injected back into the robot, change its volume pool and group to the new ones


Vault session log files

(if a volume is returned to a scratch volume pool from which all media are

allocated, you do not have to change the volume pool).

After all media in those volume pools and groups are recalled, you can delete the

vault, volume group, and volume pools.

Vault session log filesVault generates session logs and debug logs. The session logs can help you keep

track of Vault processes.

Related Topics

■ “Debug logs” on page 238

Session logsThe directory generated for each vault session collects information for the

session in two log files. The detail.log file contains a step-by-step record of

each action performed for the session. Some of the information in detail.log

is also recorded in the NetBackup log files. The summary.log file contains a

brief description of the vault session, and the results of the session. If e-mail

notification is enabled, the information in this file is appended to the e-mail.

The detail.log has information about the number of images selected by a

particular session. In addition, it should record information (during the

duplication step) about the total number of images and the number of images

duplicated. If these numbers do not match, it means that some images were not

duplicated. The log should contain information about which images were not

duplicated, either because they were duplicated in a prior session or because the

duplication failed for some reason. The actual images selected by the session

will show up only if a higher debug level (level 5) is used.

Vault maintains its session log files for a particular session in the directory for

that session. The directory is located in the following path:

UNIX:

/usr/openv/netbackup/vault/sessions/vault_name/sidxxx

Windows:

install_path\NetBackup\vault\sessions\vault_name\sidxxx

vault_name is the name of the vault used for the session and xxx is the unique

session identifier that Vault assigns to each vault session. The session ID starts

at 1 the first time Vault runs and is incremented by 1 for each new session. The

session identifier for a Vault session can be found by looking at the Activity

Monitor entry for that session.


Vault session log files

Note: Directory names are not case sensitive on Microsoft Windows systems;

therefore, session directories are created in the same

vault\sessions\vault_name directory for two or more vaults that have

names that differ only in case.

The following table describes the session logs.

Setting the duration of Vault session filesVault’s session files are stored in the following directory:

UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/vault/sessions

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\vault\sessions

You can configure the length of time NetBackup retains these files by using the

NetBackup Administration Console.

To set the length of time to keep working files

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, select Host Properties.

2 Select Master Server under Host Properties.

3 In the right pane, right-click the master server and choose Properties.

4 Select Clean-up.

5 In the Delete vault logs field, set the length of time after which to delete the

Vault working files.

When the set time has elapsed, the entire sidxxx directory is deleted.

You should plan to retain each sidxxx directory at least as long as the period of

time over which you plan to span consolidated ejects. We suggest that you keep

Table 9-38 Vault session log files

Name Purpose

duplicate.log.nn Progress information for duplication operations; generated by the

-L option of the bpduplicate command.

preview.list Summary of images to be duplicated if Duplication step is

configured, or ejected, if Eject step is configured and Duplication

step is not.

image.list Lists all images and partial images for a session.

detail.log Summary of each action performed for a Vault session.

summary.log Brief description of the Vault session and its results. If e-mail

notification is enabled, data in this log file is appended.


General operational issues

these directories at least a week longer than the consolidation span. If the

sidxxx directory has been deleted, Vault will be unable to eject tapes or

generate reports from that session.

General operational issuesGeneral operational issues describe issues that you should be aware of when

configuring and using Vault.

Vaulting Storage migrator filesFiles migrated by Storage Migrator are moved to secondary storage, and a

pointer to each file remains in the file system. Consequently, a regular backup of

the file system will save only the file pointer information. If Vault duplicates

those files, only the file pointer information is vaulted. To ensure that the actual

file is vaulted, you should also vault a copy of the Storage Migrator media.

To vault VSM media, see “Vaulting VSM media” on page 163.

Disk only source of backupsIf Disk Only is specified on the Duplication tab, an image that has no disk copy

will not be duplicated even if a copy of that image exists on removable media and

was selected during the Choose Backups step.

For more information about image selection, see “The list of images to be

vaulted” on page 138.

The scope of the source volume groupThe Source Volume Group on the Choose Backups tab spans all steps of a Vault

profile (most notably Duplication and Eject). However, if you do not duplicate

images, you do not have to specify a source volume group (the Source Volume

Group field is ignored). Conversely, the Source of Backups... field on the

Duplication tab applies only to the Duplication step.

Even if no images are selected for duplication, images may still be ejected if they

are in the Source Volume Group and in an off-site volume pool specified on the

profile Eject tab.

Chapter 10

Using the menu user

interfaces

Vault also includes the following two menu user interfaces (MUIs) that you can

use in a terminal window:

■ The Vault Administration interface, which lets you configure Vault. It

provides the same functionality as Vault Management in the NetBackup

Administration Console.

■ The Vault Operator Menu interface, which provides a way to eject media and

print reports for one or more Vault sessions.

This chapter covers the following topics:

■ Using the Vault administration interface

■ Using the Vault operator menu interface

■ Changes in vmadm for Vault

■ Changes in bpdbjobs for Vault

Using the Vault administration interfaceUNIX and Linux systems only.

The Vault Administration interface lets you configure and run Vault from a

text-based menu. You can perform the same actions in the Vault Administration

menu as in the NetBackup Administration Console.

You can use the Vault Administration interface from any character-based

terminal (or terminal emulation window) that has a termcap or terminfo

definition. Use the vltadm command to start the Vault Administration

interface, and run the vltadm command only from the UNIX system on which

the NetBackup master server resides. You must have root privileges to run the

vltadm command.

226 Using the menu user interfaces

Using the Vault operator menu interface

The vltadm command and interface is available on UNIX systems only.

The vltadm command resides in the following directory:

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin

When you invoke the vltadm command, the following menu appears in the

terminal window:

Vault Administration-------------------- Robot Name: <none> Vault Name: <none> Profile Name: <none>

r) Browse all configured robotsv) Browse all configured vaults for selected robotp) Browse all configured profiles for selected vault

n) Robot management...t) Vaults for selected robot...f) Profiles for selected vault...

c) Copy selected profile...s) Start session for selected profile...

a) Vault properties...h) Helpq) QuitENTER CHOICE:

To browse through specific robots, vaults, or profiles already configured in

Vault, press r, v, or p; the robot, vault, or profile names at the top of the menu

will change. When the correct robot, vault, or profile is displayed, type the letter

of the action you want to perform.

The criteria you can configure in the Vault Administration interface are

described in “Configuring Vault” on page 71.

For help on the currently displayed menu, select the help option on that menu.

Help includes a tutorial for learning and using the Vault Administration

interface.

Using the Vault operator menu interface The Vault Operator Menu interface lets an authorized user eject and inject tapes

and print reports for one or more Vault sessions (an authorized user is one who

can invoke the vltopmenu command). The vltopmenu command, which starts

the Vault Operator Menu, resides in the following directory:



227Using the menu user interfaces

Changes in vmadm for Vault

When you invoke the vltopmenu command, the following menu appears in the

terminal window:

NetBackup Vault Operator Menu Current Profile: None Current Session: 0 Current Report Destinations - Print command: /usr/ucb/lpr Email: Directory: p) Select Profile m) Modify the Report Destinations... u) Profile Up r) Run Reports for This Session d) Profile Down v) Run Individual Reports... s) Select Session cr) Consolidate All Reports i) Inject Media into Robot ce) Consolidate All Ejects e) Eject Media for This Session re) Consolidate All Reports and Ejects c) Container Management... q) Quit Selection-->

Upon startup, the menu displays the current profile, session, and report

destinations.

The vltopmenu command writes messages about its operations to the log file

for Vault commands:

■ UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/vault/log.mmddyy

■ Windows: install_path\NetBackup\logs\vault\mmddyy.log

For more information about the Vault Operator Menu interface, see the

NetBackup Vault Operator’s Guide.

Changes in vmadm for VaultThe command line media management utility, vmadm, manages volumes,

manages volume pools, manages barcode rules, and inventories robots

controlled by the Media Manager volume daemon (vmd). The vmadm utility has a

character-based user interface and can be used from any terminal. You must

have root privileges to execute this utility.

When Vault is installed, several fields are added to the Volume Configuration

display. You can modify these fields by using the Special Actions menu in

vmadm.



Additions to volume configurationWhen you display the full Volume Configuration, Vault specific information is

displayed. The following is an example of the Vault specific information:

volume group: TL8-0vault name: V1vault sent date: Wed Dec 02 09:34:01 2000vault return date: Tue Feb 17 09:34:01 2001vault slot: 546vault session ID: 37created: Mon Nov 29 08:29:03 2000

Changes to the special actions menuYou can modify several Vault options by using the Special Actions > Change

Vault Parameters for Volumes menu in vmadm:

Vault Volume Parameters-----------------------n) Change Vault Name for Volumesd) Change Date Volumes are sent to Vaultr) Change Date Volumes return from Vaults) Change Vault Slot for Volumesi) Change Vault Session ID for Volumes

Change Vault name for volumes

You can set, clear, or change the name of the vault in which the volume resides.

This field is used by Vault to determine where the volume is located when it is at

an off-site location.

To modify the name of the vault

1 On the main menu, choose s for Special Actions.

2 Choose a for Change Vault Parameters for Volumes.

3 Choose n for Change Vault Name for Volumes.

4 Enter the new vault name (25 character maximum). Enter a hyphen (-) to

clear the field.

5 You will be prompted for the media IDs for which you want this vault name

applied. The prompt will repeat until you press the Enter key without

entering a media ID. Click the ESC key to cancel the action.

Change date volumes are sent to Vault

You can set, clear, or change the date a volume is sent to the off-site vault. This

field is used by Vault to record when a volume was sent to the off-site vault

location. You can modify this date for a single volume or for multiple volumes.



To modify the Vault sent date of the vault



3 Choose d for Change Date Volumes are Sent to Vault.

4 Enter the new date the volume was sent off-site. Enter a zero (0) to clear the

field.

5 You will be prompted for the date on which the volumes were sent to off-site

storage.The prompt will repeat until you press the Enter key without

entering a date. Press the ESC key to cancel the action.

Change date volumes return from Vault

You can set, clear, or change the date a volume returns from the off-site vault.

This field is used by Vault to record when a volume is requested to return from

the off-site vault location. You can modify this date for a single volume or for

multiple volumes.

To modify the Vault return date of the vault



3 Choose r for Change Date Volumes Return from Vault.

4 Enter the new date the volume is requested to return from the off-site vault.

Enter a zero (0) to clear the field.

5 You will be prompted for the return dates on which the volumes should be

recalled from off-site storage. The prompt will repeat until you press the

Enter key without entering a return date. Press the ESC key to cancel the

action.

Change Vault slot for volumes

You can set, clear, or change the slot that the volume is contained in at the

off-site location. This field is used by Vault to determine in what slot the volume

is located in the off-site vault. You can modify the slot for a single volume or for

multiple volumes.

To modify the slot ID for a volume



3 Choose s for Change Vault Slot for Volumes.



4 Enter the new vault slot ID for the volume. Enter a zero (0) to clear the field.

5 You will be prompted for the slot IDs to assign to the volumes. The prompt

will repeat until you press the Enter key without entering a slot ID. Press the

ESC key to cancel the action.

Change Vault session ID for volumes

You can set, clear, or change the session ID in which a volume was processed.

This field is used by Vault to determine in what vault session a volume was

processed. You can modify the session ID for a single volume or for multiple

volumes.

To modify the session ID for a volume



3 Choose i for Change Vault Session ID for Volumes.

4 Enter the new session ID for the volume. Enter a zero (0) to clear the field.

5 You will be prompted for the session IDs to assign to the volumes. The

prompt will repeat until you press the Enter key without entering a session

ID. Press the ESC key to cancel the action.

Changes to display optionsBy default, information about all configured volumes is displayed in vmadm. You

can set a filter option to limit the display to the volumes in a specific container.

To display information about volumes in a container

1 On the main menu, choose p for Print Information about Volumes.

2 Choose f for Filter.

3 Choose 8 for VAULT CONTAINER ID.

4 Enter the container ID or a dash (-) to clear the container ID field and not

filter on a container ID.


Changes in bpdbjobs for Vault

Changes in bpdbjobs for VaultThe NetBackup activity monitor utility, bpdbjobs, displays Vault jobs by

default. If you invoke the bpdbjobs command and use the -vault option, the

output includes the following Vault specific fields.

If a Vault job completes successfully (with exit status = 0), the State field and the

Operation field both contain the value Done. If a vault job fails, the Operation

field contains the operation occurring at the time the job failed.

Table 10-39 Vault fields in bpdbjobs output

Field Description

Robot The name of the robot with which the vault is associated.

Vault The name of the vault under which the session is running.

Profile The name of the profile that holds the configuration information for the vault session.

Session ID The session ID, a unique numeric value, for the vault job. Session ID assignment starts at

1 the first time a vault job is run after vault has been installed. The value is incremented

by 1 every time a new vault job runs.

Tapes to Eject The number of tapes to be ejected for a vault session. If the profile is configured for

deferred eject, the tapes may not be ejected yet.

Operation For Vault jobs, the field contains one of the following values. These values progress from

the first value to the last as the Vault job progresses:

■ Choosing Images

■ Duplicating Images

■ Choosing Media

■ Catalog Backup

■ Eject and Report

■ Done


Changes in bpdbjobs for Vault

Chapter 11

Troubleshooting

For information about specific problems or areas that can cause problems, see

the following:

■ “Printing problems” on page 233

■ “Errors returned by the Vault session” on page 234

■ “No media are ejected” on page 234

■ “Media is missing in robot” on page 234

■ “Bad or missing duplicate tape” on page 235

■ “Tape drive or robot offline” on page 236

■ “No duplicate progress message” on page 236

■ “Ejecting tapes while in use” on page 237

■ “Tapes not removed from the MAP” on page 238

■ “Unexpired tapes were injected into the robot” on page 238

■ “Debug logs” on page 238

Printing problemsProblems with printing reports that appear to be Vault problems often are

problems with the print command configured on the profile Reports tab.

Therefore, you should test print commands from a command line on the server

on which Vault is installed to ensure that they work correctly.

In some rare cases with Microsoft Windows, the print command will work

correctly when tested from a command prompt but will not work when

configured on the profile Reports tab. The issue may be with how Windows calls

the print command. If you experience such a problem, from a command prompt

on the master server on which Vault is installed enter the following command

(use the appropriate server and printer names):

234 Troubleshooting

Errors returned by the Vault session

NET USE lpt1 \\servername\printername PERSISTENT:YES

This problem can also occur in mixed environments of UNIX and Windows.

Errors returned by the Vault sessionEvery Vault session writes a detailed error status to stderr.

■ If the error generated by the Vault session is less than or equal to 255, it will

return the actual error code. Error codes less than or equal to 255 (except

252) map to standard NetBackup error codes and are documented in the

NetBackup Troubleshooting Guide.

■ If the Vault session fails with an error code greater than 255, it will return

error code 252 and the actual error code will be written to stderr. This is

because codes greater than 255 are called NetBackup Extended Error Codes

and are not supported by all operating systems.

The format of the error text written to stderr is:

EXIT status = error code

For detailed information on status codes, see the NetBackup Troubleshooting

Guide for UNIX and Windows.

No media are ejectedIf no media are ejected, it may be because of the following:

■ All images have already been vaulted, so no images were selected. Vault

determines that a backup image has already been vaulted if a copy of the

image already is on a volume in an off-site volume group.

■ The media to be vaulted are in a volume group other than the robotic volume

group specified for the vault to which the profile belongs.

Media is missing in robotDuplication may fail if NetBackup does not know that a requested piece of media

is in the robot. For example, a tape may have been moved to the off-site volume

group inadvertently even though it remains in the robot. To compare the tapes

actually stored in the robot with the Media Manager database, use the

NetBackup Administration Console Inventory Robot option.

If the tape is in the robot, use the NetBackup Administration Console to move

the tape to the robotic volume group.

If the tape is not found, you should delete it from the NetBackup system. If the

tape is missing yet is assigned and has valid duplicate images, you will need to

235Troubleshooting

Bad or missing duplicate tape

use the command bpexpdate, which is documented in the NetBackup

Administrator’s Guide, to expire the images before you delete the tape from

Media Manager.

Bad or missing duplicate tapeIf a duplicate tape is lost or damaged, you can reduplicate the images that were

on the tape if the primary backup images still reside in the robot.

To reduplicate images

1 Determine which images were on the tape by running the bpimmedia

command.

The bpimmedia command scans the entire NetBackup image catalog, so it

may take a few minutes depending on the size of that catalog. Save the

output because you will need to verify that the correct images were

reduplicated.

2 Expire the lost or damaged duplicate tapes by using the bpexpdate

command.

3 Determine when the images were created by using the bpimagelist

command.

4 Create a profile that has the same criteria as the profile that created the

missing duplicate tape except for the following:

■ Specify policy names only for the policy names used to create the

images on the missing tape.

■ Set the time window so the profile selects the images on the missing

tape. For example, if the original backups were made 30 days ago, set

the time window between 32 and 28 days ago.

5 Run the profile by selecting it in the Administration Console and then

selecting Actions > Start Session.

Ensure that no other Vault sessions are running before running this new

profile.

Before duplicating images, you can verify that the correct images are

selected by previewing the session.

For more information, see “Previewing a Vault session” on page 135.

236 Troubleshooting

Tape drive or robot offline

Tape drive or robot offlineIf you have a problem with ACSLS drives going offline, you should try to

configure the drives in an UP state or reset the drive. If drives persistently go

offline, duplication may hang.

Also, if the tape drives are listed as AVR control in the Administration Console

Media and Device Management node, there may be a problem with the robotics

control. All drives should be listed as robotically controlled (that is, TLD, ACS,

and so on), but they will be converted to AVR control if a problem occurs with

the robot. To diagnose the problem, examine the system logs (for example,

/var/adm/messages on UNIX systems) for error messages. You can also use

the robotic test utilities (such as robtest) to further debug the problem.

No duplicate progress messageIf you see a message similar to the following in the Vault detail.log, the Vault

process has not received any new information from the bpduplicate process

within the time frame specified (in this example, 30 minutes):

bpduplicate_progress_logname: no activity in 30 minutes

bpduplicate_progress_logname is the progress log that bpduplicate

creates as it runs the duplication for Vault. This file resides in the following

directory:

UNIX:

/usr/openv/netbackup/vault/sessions/vault_name/sidxxx/duplicate.log.n

Windows:

install_path\NetBackup\vault\sessions\vault_name\sidxxx\duplicate.log.n

The vault_name is the name of the vault used for the session, xxx is the unique

session ID, and n is the number of the instance of the bpduplicate command

(1 for the first instance, 2 for the second, and so on).

This message does not necessarily indicate an error has occurred. If the image

that is currently being duplicated is very large (for example, several gigabytes),

this message is displayed only for informational purposes. To determine if a

problem exists, you can determine the size of the current image. First examine

the last few lines of the details.log file to determine backup image ID. Then

execute the bpimagelist command and specify the image ID, as in the

following example:

UNIX: bpimagelist -L -backupid server2_0897273363Windows: bpimagelist.exe -L -backupid server2_0897273363

The output of this command will show you various statistics about this backup

image, including the number of kilobytes written during this backup. If the

number is relatively small, there may be a problem with the duplication process.

Sometimes this delay is caused by a media mount (which normally does not

237Troubleshooting

Need to Stop Bpvault

occur in robotic devices during duplication), by hardware problems, or by the

media being in use. Examine the Activity Monitor to determine if there are any

hardware problems and also check the system logs. If the backup image is very

large, then this message should be regarded as informational.

Need to Stop BpvaultTo stop a bpvault duplication process, you can use the vltrun -haltdups

command from the command line interface. For more information about this

command, refer to the NetBackup Commands manual.

This command sends a SIGUSR2 signal to the main duplication process, which is

the primary vault job that is currently in the duplication process. This signal is

automatically propagated to the other bpvault duplication instances without

waiting for any current duplication job instance to finish. The current

duplication will complete and no more duplication instances will run. However,

the bpvault.all script will continue to complete processing of the other bpvault

commands.

To end a bpvault process immediately, rather than wait a number of minutes for

the current bpduplicate processes to complete, you must first run the

-haltdups command and then manually kill the bptm jobs on each server.

However, do not kill the bpduplicate processes. The errors received by bpvault

will be logged and these images will not be successfully duplicated. The failure

of the bptm/bpduplicate will mean these images will be duplicated on the next

attempt if the number of duplicate_days is not exceeded.

Ejecting tapes while in useIf Vault is configured to eject original media, it is possible that a piece of media

could be in use during the eject process (for example, for a restore or a media

verify procedure.) In this case, an error message will be generated by Media

Manager. A similar error may be generated by non-Media Manager controlled

robots if a piece of media is currently in use.

If you receive one of these errors, we recommend that you use the Vault

Operator Menu (vltopmenu) to re-eject the media after the media is no longer

in use. You may receive additional error messages because the rest of the media

for the scheduled job has already been ejected.

238 Troubleshooting

Tapes not removed from the MAP

Tapes not removed from the MAP If media is not removed from the robot’s media access port (MAP) and a timeout

condition occurs, the job is failed with status code 338 (vault eject timed out). If

this occurs, the Vault reports will not accurately reflect the status of the media.

To recover, you should use the Vault Operator Menu (vltopmenu) or the

vlteject command to eject the media that was not removed from the library

and generate the reports.

Unexpired tapes were injected into the robotIf Vault tapes that have not expired have been injected back into a robot, you can

revault them manually by doing the following:

1 Eject the media, as follows:

a In the NetBackup Administration Console, select the robot into which

the media was injected (Media and Device Management > Robots).

b Select the media ID(s) you want to eject.

c Select the Eject Volumes from Robot.... operation on the Actions menu.

2 Transfer the media to the off-site volume group by doing the following:

a Select the media ID(s).

b Select Actions > Change Volume Group.

c Choose the appropriate off-site volume group from the New Volume

Group Name drop down menu.



4 Run the Recovery report to ensure that the media is available for future


Alternatively, you can use the vmchange command to eject the media and

transfer it to the off-site volume group.

Debug logsVault writes debug logs in the standard NetBackup debug logging path as

follows:

■ Vault commands write messages in log files in a vault directory. You must

first create the vault directories so that daily log files are generated; if the

239Troubleshooting

Debug logs

directories do not exist, the log files will not be created. The log files are in

the following vault directories:

UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/vault/log.mmddyy

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\logs\vault\mmddyy.log

■ The NetBackup Vault Manager (nbvault) writes messages in Veritas unified

log (VxUL) files. (Unified logging creates log file names and messages in a

standardized format.) All unified logs are written to the following locations:

UNIX: /usr/openv/logs

Windows: install_path\NetBackup\logs

The originator ID (OID) for NetBackup Vault is 166. Refer to the "Using Logs

and Reports" chapter of the NetBackup Troubleshooting Guide for more

information on unified logging

The NetBackup Vault Manager (nbvault) manages Vault activity and arbitrates

access to the Vault robot, vault, and profile configuration information. The

NetBackup Vault Manager must be running at all times so Vault will function

correctly. On Windows systems, use the bpup.exe and bpdown.exe commands

to start and stop the NetBackup services, including the NetBackup Vault

Manager; on UNIX systems, use netbackup start and netbackup stop to

start and stop NetBackup and Vault daemons.

Setting the duration and level of logsThe amount of information logged and how long it is retained is controlled by

two NetBackup configuration parameters.

■ The length of time NetBackup retains debug logs. This setting affect all

debug log files generated by NetBackup, not just the Vault debug logs.

■ Vault logging level. Symantec recommends that you use a debug level of 5

when you generate logs that you send to Symantec for troubleshooting

purposes. You can set the debug level to 5 for all Vault sessions or you can

use the -verbose option on the vltrun command in the Vault policy that

invokes the Vault job.

To set the duration and level for log files

1 In the NetBackup Administration Console, expand NetBackup Management.

2 Expand Host Properties.

3 Select Master Server.

4 In the right pane, select the master server and then Actions > Properties.

5 Select Clean-up.

240 Troubleshooting

Debug logs

6 Enter the length of time to retain the NetBackup log files. This setting

applies to all NetBackup logs, including but not limited to, the Vault logs.

In the NetBackup Administration Console for UNIX, the field name is Keep

Logs For.

In the NetBackup Administration Console for Windows, the field name is

Duration to Retain Logs.

7 Select the Logging tab.

8 Select the Vault Logging Level.

The logging level corresponds to the bp.conf entry VAULT_VERBOSE =

level on UNIX systems.

Logs to accompany problem reportsTo troubleshoot problems, Symantec Customer Service requires a set of log files

produced by NetBackup and Vault. In most circumstances, you will have to

provide log files from the following NetBackup processes:

■ admin (on the master server); administrative commands process

■ bpbrmvlt (on the master server); Vault job scheduler (similar to bpbrm)

■ bpcd (on the master server); NetBackup client daemon manager

■ bpsched (on the master server); NetBackup backup scheduler

■ bptm (on the media server); NetBackup tape manager

■ nbvault (on the master server); Vault Manager service/daemon

■ vault (on the master server); Vault commands

Session log files also are useful for troubleshooting problems, and you should

include the appropriate session log files with problem reports you send to

Symantec.

If you use the vlteject command or the Vault Operator Menu (vltopmenu) to

perform consolidated ejects and reports, the following log file may also be

useful:

UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup/vault/sessions/vlteject.mstr

Windows:

install_path\NetBackup\vault\sessions\vlteject.mstr

For more information about the NetBackup debug logs, see the NetBackup

Troubleshooting Guide for UNIX and Windows.

Appendix A

Recovering from disasters

This section provides information about recovering data, using NetBackup and

Vault, when you have to recall your media from your off-site storage location. It

also provides general information about preparing for a disaster recovery

situation. For more information, see the following:

■ “Introduction” on page 241

■ “Disaster recovery in the NetBackup Vault context” on page 245

■ “Preparing for recovery” on page 246

■ “Recovering NetBackup” on page 248

■ “Recovering data” on page 248

■ “Recovering to a specific point in time” on page 250

For information about recovering the NetBackup application, see the “Disaster

Recovery” section in the NetBackup Troubleshooting Guide.

IntroductionData backup is essential to any data protection strategy, especially a strategy

that is expected to assist in disaster recovery. Regularly backing up data and

then being able to restore that data within a specified time frame are important

components of recovery. Regardless of any other recovery provisions, backup

protects against data loss from complete system failure. And off-site storage of

backup images protects against damage to your on-site media or against a

disaster that damages or destroys your facility or site.

To perform recovery successfully, the data must be tracked to know at what

point in time it was backed up, which allows your organization to assess the

information that cannot be recovered. Your data backup schedules should be

configured to allow your organization to achieve its recovery point objective

(RPO), which is the point in time before which you cannot accept lost data. If

242

Introduction

your organization can accept one day’s data loss, your backup schedule should

be at least daily so you can achieve an RPO of one day before any disaster.

Your organization also may have a recovery time objective (RTO), which is the

expected recovery time or how long it will take to recover. Recovery time is a

function of the type of disaster and of the methods used for recovery. You may

have multiple RTOs, depending on which services your organization must

recover and when.

High availability technologies can make the recovery point very close or even

identical to the point of failure or disaster, and they also can provide very short

recovery times. However, the closer to the failure that you place your RTO and

RPO, the more expensive it becomes to build and maintain the systems required

to achieve recovery. Your analysis of the costs and benefits of various recovery

strategies should be part of your organization’s recovery planning.

Understanding disaster recovery planning allows you to place Vault and

tape-based backups stored off-site in the proper context within your disaster

recovery objectives.

Definition of disasterFor an organization, a disaster is an unplanned event that interrupts its ability

to function. Usually, the event affects the delivery of critical business functions

and results in a loss of data. The following are generally recognized as the types

of disasters possible:

■ Technological disasters result in shortcomings in performance, availability,

capacity, and accessibility of your IT infrastructures. Technological

disasters include computer or Internet crimes, computer viruses, power

failures, network or telecommunication failures, hardware or software

failures, and so on.

■ Human disasters are caused by people, including accidents, explosions,

fires, riots, terrorist activities, and so on.

■ Natural disasters are caused by nature, including hurricanes, tornadoes,

earthquakes, floods, and so on.

The impact of a disaster often depends on the scale and timing of the event.

Although a disaster is an event that is beyond your control, you can control the

way in which your organization reacts to a disaster. By planning and preparing

for a disastrous event, you can minimize the effect of the disaster.

Definition of disaster recoveryDisaster recovery is the process of responding to an interruption in the services

your organization uses to operate. Disaster recovery usually is focused on

243

Introduction

information, network, and telecommunication services, often at an alternative

site and using one or more data-recovery methods.

Disaster recovery is part of a larger topic called business recovery, which is

restoring the actual capability for employees to perform their jobs. Business

recovery includes logistic related items, such as telephones, office space, living

arrangements for employees, and so on. Business recovery itself is part of a

larger topic called business continuity planning, which includes plans to

manage the crisis to your organization, help resume normal business

operations, and so on.

A resilient organization will use business continuity planning to help ensure

that it can survive a disaster and resume operations at an acceptable level.

Definition of disaster recovery planA disaster recovery plan is a plan to resume or recover a specific essential

operation, function, or process of an organization. Although disaster recovery

usually has been used to describe information technology and

telecommunication services recovery, other services an organization uses to

conduct operations can and should be considered part of a plan. For example, an

organization’s people also are subject to the effects of a disaster and planning

should include the impact on them and the resources necessary to help them

recover so they can perform their duties.

By planning how your company will respond in the event of a disaster, you

ensure that your company can:

■ Protect critical data

■ Minimize the impact of a disaster

■ Use resources most effectively

■ Maintain business continuity

Recovery prioritiesYour organization must decide between recovery cost (the infrastructure and

testing) and the level of functionality that must be recovered. You may choose to

recover only the most critical business functions immediately and then recover

other functions later. Although all functions of an organization should be

valuable and necessary for the organization to operate, it may be acceptable to

operate at a reduced level for a specific period of time. The longer your

organization can operate without a function, the easier and less expensive it

becomes to recover that function. Therefore, given the higher cost of rapid

recovery, only those functions required for immediate operation need to be

244

Introduction

recovered quickly. Delaying recovery of some functions can be a good business

decision.

Developing a disaster recovery planDeveloping a disaster recovery plan usually begins with an impact analysis that

identifies the functions an organization requires to operate and determines how

long each function can be unavailable until it affects the organization to an

unacceptable extent.

Understanding the impact of disaster will help you identify the objectives for

the recovery plan. The following are examples of objectives that may be in a

disaster recovery plan:

■ Ensure service to customers by making critical resources available

■ Minimize economic loss

■ Secure company assets

■ Minimize decision making during the recovery process

■ Reduce reliance on key individuals

■ Ensure a safe and orderly recovery within predetermined time period

■ Maintain a sense of security and organizational stability

The priority you assign your objectives depends on the needs of your

organization. By setting clear, prioritized objectives for your disaster recovery

plan, you can reduce your organization’s exposure to risks and ensure that your

critical systems and networks are available during disruptions.

Two approaches can be used to create disaster recovery plans:

■ A general plan that is used any time a disaster occurs. A general plan should

be flexible and is often impact driven rather than disaster driven (that is,

based on the impact to your organization rather than the type of disaster). A

general plan usually is based on assumptions that define the scope of each

impact in the plan. A general plan is easy to maintain and convenient;

however, because it may require that some decisions be made at the time of

disaster (such as assessing the type of impact and determining the

response), the beginning of recovery may be delayed.

■ Multiple smaller plans, each used for a specific disaster that your

organization has determined is most likely to occur. For example, individual

plans often are created for power outages, network outages, fires, floods,

and so on. Individual disaster-specific plans are easier to create than a

general plan. It is often clear which plan should be used, so fewer decisions

are required at the beginning of recovery, which can result in quicker

recovery. However, which plan to use may not always be clear (for example, if

245

Disaster recovery in the NetBackup Vault context

a fire causes a power outage), and if a disaster occurs for which a plan does

not exist, recovery may be slow to begin and difficult to achieve.

A disaster recovery plan should be easy to follow and not require interpretation.

Do not include unnecessary detail. If the plan is implemented, it will be in a time

of high stress and pressure to perform; therefore, it should be simple, specific,

and well tested.

You should publicize your disaster recovery plan within your organization so

that everyone knows about it, understands how it works, and understands the

reasoning behind the decisions in the plan.

Testing a disaster recovery planDeveloping a disaster recovery plan is a waste of time and resources if it is not

tested regularly, thoroughly, and frequently (frequently depends on any changes

in your organization’s functions and environment). The goal of disaster

recovery testing is not to pass but to find out what does not work. Your tests

should be designed to find problems because it is better to find them during a

test than during an actual recovery situation.

Testing can be as simple as calling all of the phone numbers in an emergency

notification list, which helps verify that everyone can be reached when needed.

Or testing can be as complex as actually conducting operations at a recovery site

to ensure that everything works correctly. Between those extremes, variations

include walkthroughs, during which everyone involved in the recovery process

discusses their roles in a moderated recovery scenario, and simulations that

invoke the recovery plan but use simulated data. Perhaps using a combination of

testing scenarios to test specific parts of the plan also can be effective.

Disaster recovery in the NetBackup Vault contextIn the NetBackup Vault context, disaster recovery means restoring the

NetBackup application (master server, media servers, and clients) and then

restoring the data that is stored at the off-site storage facility.

If you use NetBackup and Vault to backup your applications and store removable

media at a secure off-site location, you also can perform application recovery so

you do not have to reinstall your applications.

246

Preparing for recovery


Note: Effective disaster recovery procedures are specific to an environment and

provide detailed information about everything that should be accomplished to

prepare for disaster and to recover after disaster occurs. Symantec provides

general disaster recovery information that is intended as a model only; you must

evaluate the information and then develop your own disaster recovery plans and

procedures.

Recovering data can be a difficult and time consuming process. The success of

recovery often depends on how well you prepare for disaster. Your preparations

for disaster and what you have to accomplish during a recovery depends on your

recovery systems. For example, if your recovery site and systems are already

operational and have NetBackup and Vault installed, you do not have to protect

the NetBackup installation media and the license keys and install NetBackup

during the recovery process — you only have to recover the NetBackup catalogs

and data. Conversely, if your recovery systems do not have NetBackup and Vault

installed and configured, you have to prepare for that and accomplish it during

recovery.

You should do the following to prepare for recovery using NetBackup and Vault;

you may not have to do some of the items listed, and you may have to do more

than what is listed:

■ Develop a disaster recovery plan.

■ Test the disaster recovery plan.

■ Back up and vault data regularly. In addition to backing up files on a regular

basis, it is important to select the correct files to back up. You should back up

all data that your organization’s impact analysis determines is critical and

store copies at a secure, off-site storage location.

■ If you can recover to the same or identical hardware, back up and vault the

applications that your organization’s impact analysis determines are

critical. You also should back up system files so you can quickly restore a

system to normal operation:

■ Include all operating system files in your backups. For Microsoft

Windows systems, the Windows system directories include the

registry, without which it is impossible to restore a system to its

original configuration. If you are using a NetBackup exclude list for a

client, do not specify any Windows system files in that list.

Restoring operating system files is not helpful if you are recovering

data to a different system at your original or disaster recovery site. You

247


can back up those files, but then not restore them if you are recovering

to a different system or site.

■ Back up executable and other files for applications you need to conduct

critical operations. You may want to save money by using fewer tape

volumes, but backing up critical applications ensures that you can

restore them to their exact configurations. For example, if you have

applied software updates or patches, restoring from a backup

eliminates the need to reapply them, reducing recovery time.

■ Every time you vault media, store the Recovery Report securely. The same

disaster that destroys your site can destroy your Recovery Report. You will

need the Recovery Report to identify the media you need to recall from

off-site storage. Your vault vendor may allow you to vault your Recovery

Report. If you have a recovery site equipped with computers, e-mail the

Recovery Report to that site.

■ Record and protect the names of the policies that are used to backup the

data you want to recover. The Recovery Report is organized by policy, so you

need to know which policies are used so you can identify the media you need

to recover.

■ Record and protect the names of the off-site volume groups for the data you

want to recover. Those names are used during the recovery process.

Alternatively, you can obtain the off-site volume group names after you

restore the NetBackup catalog (because the catalog includes the Vault

configuration).

■ Document the commands and options that you need to recover data. For

example, the bpchangeprimary command is used to promote the vaulted

images to primary images so that you can restore from them. So you should

have a record of the commands and options that you need during the

recovery process.

■ Protect the NetBackup and Vault installation media. You need the media so

you can install NetBackup and Vault on the recovery system if it is not

already installed.

■ Record and protect the license keys for NetBackup and Vault. You need them

for NetBackup and Vault on the recovery system if you have to install

NetBackup. You can use temporary license keys if necessary.

■ Protect the installation media and record the license keys for any other

Symantec products that must be installed on the recovery systems. For

example, if you use the Veritas File System™ and Veritas Volume Manager™

on the recovery systems, you will need their license keys when you install

those products.

248

Recovering NetBackup

■ Protect the installation media for the operating system and other

applications required to run the systems you are using for recovery.

■ Protect your DR plan. The same disaster that destroys your site can destroy

your DR plan and recovery report. You should have copies stored so that

they will be available when needed. Your vault vendor may allow you to

vault a copy of the DR plan.

Recovering NetBackupInformation about recovering NetBackup master servers, media servers, and

client systems after a disk failure is provided in the “Disaster Recovery” section

of the NetBackup Troubleshooting Guide. The procedures include re-installing

NetBackup and may include re-installing the operating system if it is required.

You must first ensure that your computer and robotic hardware and any

necessary network equipment is operational before you re-install NetBackup.

You can then use an appropriate procedure in the NetBackup Troubleshooting

Guide.

After you re-install NetBackup, you may have to configure robots and drives

(unless you re-install NetBackup on the original system, in which case the device

configuration will be restored if you recover the NetBackup catalogs).

Recovering data

Note: Effective disaster recovery procedures are specific to an environment and

provide detailed information about everything that should be accomplished to

prepare for disaster and to recover after disaster occurs. Symantec provides

general disaster recovery information that is intended as a model only; you must

evaluate the information and then develop your own disaster recovery plans and

procedures.

Recovering data can be a difficult and time consuming process. The success of

recovery often depends on how well you prepare for disaster and subsequent

recovery.

The steps you have to perform to recover can depend on the configuration of

your original system and robotic devices, your original NetBackup

configuration, the configuration of your recovery system and robots, and the

configuration of NetBackup on the recovery systems. Therefore, providing

specific disaster recovery procedures for all situations is not possible; rather,

these procedures are intended as general guidelines from which you can create

249

Recovering data

your own procedures for recovering NetBackup and the data that was

transferred off-site.

Although some detail is included about restoring the NetBackup catalogs to a

recovery system, these procedures do not provide detail about every step of the

recovery procedure.

Information in this section assumes the following:

■ The primary backup images are unavailable.

■ The NetBackup master and media server software, Vault software, client

software, and devices are installed and robots and drives are configured on

systems to which you are recovering data.

■ The NetBackup catalogs and data media have not been recalled from off-site

storage.

■ The Recovery Report is available.

■ You know the name of the off-site volume group name to which the

recovered images belong.

■ You know the names of the original master and media servers.

To recall media and restore backup images

1 Using the Recovery Report, identify the current catalog backup media and

the media required to restore the data.

The Recovery Report is organized by policy, so you should determine which

policies were used to back up the data you want to recover.

2 Recall the appropriate catalog backup and data media from off site storage.

3 Recover the catalog using one of the procedures in the “Recover the Catalog

from an Online, Hot Backup” section of the NetBackup Troubleshooting

Guide.

4 If necessary, perform device discovery in NetBackup.

By default, NetBackup catalog backups include the NetBackup device

configuration information. If the recovery system has a different device

configuration than the original system, the device configuration from the

original system will overwrite the device configuration when the catalog is

recovered.

5 If the master and media server names on the recovery system are different

than the original system, change the server names in the NetBackup

catalogs by using the bpimage command. The bpimage command and

options required are as follows:

bpimage -newserver recovery_system -oldserver original_system

250

Recovering to a specific point in time

You can also use the bpimage command if the old system had separate

media servers and the recovery system has a combined master and media

server. Use the name of the combined master/media server for the

argument to the -newserver option.

6 Specify the backup copy from which to restore by adding the copy number to

the file ALT_RESTORE_COPY_NUMBER.

Note: After you add the copy number to the file, all subsequent restore

operations restore from that backup copy. The restore can be from the

Backup, Archive, and Restore interface or from the bprestore command.

Exception: the bprestore -copy x option and argument override the

value in the ALT_RESTORE_COPY_NUMBER file.

The ALT_RESTORE_COPY_NUMBER file must be in the following directory

on the NetBackup master server:

UNIX: /usr/openv/netbackup

Windows: install_path\VERITAS\NetBackup

For more information about alternate copy restore, see “Restoring from a

specific backup copy” in the Backup, Archive, and Restore help.

7 If the media is not suspended or frozen, suspend the media.

Use the bpmedia command to suspend the media. Suspending the media

prevents NetBackup from writing backup images to that media.

8 If the NetBackup Administration Console is not running, start it.

9 Inject the media into the robot.

Injecting the media moves it into the robot and also changes the off-site

volume group attribute of the media to robotic volume group so NetBackup

knows that the volumes are in the robot and ready for restore operations.

For procedures, see “Injecting media” on page 146.

10 Using the Backup, Archive, and Restore interface, restore the data. For

procedures, see the NetBackup Backup, Archive, and Restore Getting Started

Guide.

11 After restoring all of the data, revault the media.


Recovering to a specific point in timeIf your data center or computing environment requires recovery to a specific

point in time (not just to the most recent valid backups), you can set up a process

that will ensure that you can recover both the NetBackup catalog and the data

251


for that specific time. You should retain the corresponding catalog backups for

the same length of time as the corresponding data backups.

The following high-level information is intended as an overview of how to

archive the catalog and data so you can recover to a specific point in time;

detailed instructions for accomplishing all the tasks necessary are not included.

To archive the catalog and data

1 Use your normal procedures to vault the data and NetBackup catalogs for

that data.

2 Use the bpmedia command to freeze the data and catalog volumes that you

want to retain.

Freezing the volumes prevents them from becoming unassigned and from

appearing on the Picking List for Vault report. Do not recall the volumes

from off-site storage when they expire.

3 Vault a printed copy of the Recovery Report for that specific point in time.

You will need the Recovery Report from the specific point in time so you can

recall and restore the appropriate catalog and data volumes.

4 Optionally, remove the media IDs from the volume database.

This reduces the size of the database and improves performance.

Depending on the number of volumes, maintaining the media IDs in the

volume database may not degrade performance much.

To recover the catalog and data

1 Retrieve the appropriate printed Recovery Report from off-site storage.

2 Using the Recovery Report, recall the appropriate catalog backup and data

volumes from off site storage.

3 Recover the catalog that you recalled from off-site storage.

That version of the catalog contains information about the archived

volumes and the images on them.

4 Use the bpexpdate command to reset the expiration date on the recalled

volumes so they will not be expired. You can use the -policy option to

change the expiration date for all media associated with a specific policy.

5 Change the images to be recovered to primary (NetBackup restores from the

primary image).

To change a large number of images to primary, you can use

bpchangeprimary -group option to specify all images in a specific

off-site volume group. For information about the bpchangeprimary

command, see the NetBackup Commands for UNIX or NetBackup Commands

for Windows guide.

252


6 Restore the data.

The NetBackup Administrator’s Guide, Volume I includes an alternative

procedure for archiving the catalog. That alternative procedure uses the catarc

catalog archive policy to archive old data in the NetBackup catalog. You can then

vault the archived catalog data or a copy of the archived catalog data. For more

information, see “Catalog Archiving” in the NetBackup Administrator’s Guide,

Volume I.

Appendix B

Vault’s file and directory structure

For information about the files and directories created by Vault, see the

following:

■ “UNIX files and directories” on page 253

■ “Windows files and directories” on page 257

UNIX files and directoriesVault is installed in /usr/openv/netbackup on UNIX systems. The following

table describes the files in each of the directories Vault creates and uses on

UNIX systems. Also included are Vault files that reside in NetBackup directories.

The files are either copied into the directories during the installation process or

created as Vault sessions run. The paths are specified in relation to the

netbackup directory.

Table B-1 Files and directories for Vault in UNIX

Directory, Program, or File Purpose

bin/bpbrmvlt Process that kicks off vltrun from a scheduled or manual vault

policy.

bin/nbvault The Vault daemon that manges Vault activity.

bin/vltadm Curses-based utility to configure NetBackup Vault and monitor its

operations. vltadm requires root (administrator) privileges.

bin/vltcontainers Command used to add media logically to containers.

bin/vlteject Command used to eject media from Vault sessions and run the

reports selected in the profile.

254

UNIX files and directories

bin/vltinject Command used to inject media into a robot and update the Media

Manager database.

bin/vltoffsitemedia Command which allows the user to change the off-site parameters

of a given piece of media.

bin/vltopmenu Utility which allows the user to invoke a menu screen containing

the various options that an operator of the NetBackup Vault feature

can use. It allows the user to eject or inject media, print various

reports individually or collectively, and consolidate reports and

ejects across sessions.

bin/vltrun Process that executes all the NetBackup commands used during a

Vault session.

bin/goodies/vlt_ejectlist_notify Script called by the vault session just before vault tapes are ejected.

bin/goodies/vlt_end_notify Script called by the vault session just before it exits.

bin/goodies/vlt_endeject_notify Script called by the vault session at the end of eject processing.

bin/goodies/vlt_start_notify Script called by the vault session after it starts.

bin/goodies/vlt_starteject_notify Script called by the vault session when the eject process starts.

db/vault/vault.xml The vault configuration file.

help/vltadm Contains help files for the Vault Administration (vltadm) interface.

/logs/vault Directory where the Vault commands log messages.

vault The main directory for Vault. Contains session directories.

vault/sessions A subdirectory that contains working session directories and log

files. In a cluster environment, the sessions directory must reside

on the shared disk.

vault/sessions/cntrDB The database of information for media vaulted in containers.

vault/sessions/sidxxx Subdirectory that contains working session subdirectories. Can be

manually removed to reduce disk usage if necessary.

vault/sessions/vault_name/session

.last

Counter to show current duplication session

Table B-1 Files and directories for Vault in UNIX (continued)


255


vault/sessions/vault_name/sidxxx/

allmedia_inventory.rpt

The All Media Inventory Report. If a report name includes a time

stamp, it is part of a consolidated report operation. If you configure

the profile Reports tab to write reports to a folder, the file name of

the report will include the session ID. Report filenames that include

_ff are for debug purposes only; they are created when reports are

generated from the Administration Console.


container_inv.rpt

The Container Inventory report. If a report name includes a time



the report in that folder will include the session ID. Report

filenames that include _ff are for debug purposes only; they are

created when reports are generated from the Administration

Console.


detail.log

Shows the output of every command that was executed during the

session.


etailed_distlist_vault.rpt

The Detailed Distribution List for Vault report. If a report name

includes a time stamp, it is part of a consolidated report operation.

If you configure the profile Reports tab to write reports to a folder,

the file name of the report will include the session ID. Report



Console.


istlist_robot.rpt

The Distribution List for Robot Report. If a report name includes a

time stamp, it is part of a consolidated report operation. If you

configure the profile Reports tab to write reports to a folder, the file

name of the report will include the session ID. Report filenames

that include _ff are for debug purposes only; they are created when

reports are generated from the Administration Console.


distlist_vault.rpt

The Distribution List for Vault report. If a report name includes a







duped.images

List of images successfully duplicated during the session.


duplicate.log.nn

Contains output from bpduplicate.



256



eject.list

List of media to be ejected for the session.


lostmedia.rpt

The Lost Media Report. If a report name includes a time stamp, it is

part of a consolidated report operation. If you configure the profile

Reports tab to write reports to a folder, the file name of the report

will include the session ID. Report filenames that include _ff are

for debug purposes only; they are created when reports are



non_vaulted.rpt

The Non-vaulted Images Report. If a report name includes a time







offsite_inventory.rpt

The Off-site Inventory Report. If a report name includes a time







picklist_robot.rpt

The Picking List for Robot report. If a report name includes a time







picklist_vault.rpt

The Picking List for Vault report. If a report name includes a time







preview.list

A list of all images that will be considered for duplication or ejection

by the current vault session.



257

Windows files and directories

Windows files and directoriesVault is installed in the directory specified by install_path\NetBackup on

Windows systems. The following table describes the files in each of the

directories Vault creates and uses on Windows. Also included are Vault files that

reside in NetBackup directories. The files are either copied into the directories

during the installation process or created as Vault sessions run. The paths are

specified in relation to the NetBackup directory.


recovery.rpt

The Recovery Report. If a report name includes a time stamp, it is







summary.log

Concise view of detail.log listing major events during the session,

such as how many images were copied. This log is appended for

e-mail notification.


summary_distlist_vault.rpt

The Summary Distribution List report. If a report name includes a







vault_inventory.rpt

The Vault Inventory Report. If a report name includes a time stamp,

it is part of a consolidated report operation. If you configure the

profile Reports tab to write reports to a folder, the file name of the

report will include the session ID. Report filenames that include





Table B-2 Files and Directories for Vault in Windows


bin\bpbrmvlt.exe Process that starts vltrun.exe from a scheduled or manual vault

policy.

bin\nbvault.exe The NetBackup Vault Manager service.

bin\vltcontainers.exe Command used to add media logically to containers.

258


bin\vlteject.exe Command used to eject media from Vault sessions and run the

reports selected in the profile.

bin\vltinject.exe Command used to inject media into a robot and update the Media

Manager database.

bin\vltoffsitemedia.exe Command which allows the user to change the off-site parameters

of a given piece of media.

bin\vltopmenu.exe Utility which allows the user to invoke a menu screen containing

the various options that an operator of the NetBackup Vault feature

can use. It allows the user to eject or inject media, print various

reports individually or collectively, and consolidate reports and

ejects across sessions.

bin\vltrun.exe Process that executes all the NetBackup commands used during a

Vault session.

bin\goodies\vlt_ejectlist_notify Script called by the vault session just before vault tapes are ejected.

bin\goodies\vlt_end_notify Script called by the vault session just before it exits.

bin\goodies\vlt_endeject_notify Script called by the vault session at the end of eject processing.

bin\goodies\vlt_start_notify Script called by the vault session after it starts.

bin\goodies\vlt_starteject_notify Script called by the vault session when the eject process starts.

db\vault\vault.xml The vault configuration file.

logs\nbvault Directory where the Vault service, nbvault.exe, logs messages.

logs\vault Directory where the Vault commands log messages.

vault The main Vault directory. Contains session directories.

vault\sessions A subdirectory containing working session directories and log files.

In a cluster environment, the sessions directory must reside on the

shared disk.

vault\sessions\cntrDB The database of information for media vaulted in containers.

vault\sessions\sidxxx Subdirectory containing working session subdirectories. Can be

manually removed to reduce disk usage if necessary.

vault\sessions\vault_name\session

.last

Counter to show current duplication session

Table B-2 Files and Directories for Vault in Windows (continued)


259


vault\sessions\vault_name\sidxxx\

allmedia_inventory.rpt

The All Media Inventory Report. If a report name includes a time







container_inv.rpt

The Container Inventory report. If a report name includes a time



the report in that folder will include the session ID. Report



Console.


detail.log

Shows the output of every command that was executed during the

session.


detailed_distlist_vault.rpt

The Detailed Distribution List for Vault report. If a report name

includes a time stamp, it is part of a consolidated report operation.

If you configure the profile Reports tab to write reports to a folder,

the file name of the report in that folder will include the session ID.

Report filenames that include _ff are for debug purposes only;

they are created when reports are generated from the

Administration Console.


distlist_robot.rpt

The Distribution List for Robot report. If a report name includes a







distlist_vault.rpt

The Distribution List for Vault report. If a report name includes a







duped.images

List of images successfully duplicated during the session.


duplicate.log.nn

Contains output from bpduplicate.



260



eject.list

List of media to be ejected for the session.


lostmedia.rpt

The Lost Media Report. If a report name includes a time stamp, it is







non_vaulted.rpt

The Non-vaulted Images Report. If a report name includes a time







offsite_inventory.rpt

The Off-site Inventory Report. If a report name includes a time







picklist_robot.rpt

The Picking List for Robot report. If a report name includes a time







picklist_vault.rpt

The Picking List for Vault report. If a report name includes a time







preview.list

A list of all images that will be considered for duplication or ejection

by the current vault session.



261



recovery.rpt

The Recovery Report. If a report name includes a time stamp, it is







summary.log

Concise view of detail.log listing major events during the session,

such as how many images were copied. This log is appended for

e-mail notification.


summary_distlist_vault.rpt

The Summary Distribution List report. If a report name includes a







vault.err

Error log for duplication of specific image.


vault_inventory.rpt

The Vault Inventory Report. If a report name includes a time stamp,

it is part of a consolidated report operation. If you configure the

profile Reports tab to write reports to a folder, the file name of the

report will include the session ID. Report filenames that include




volume.db.list

Media Manager inventory for NetBackup database duplicate pool.



262


Index

A

access management 218

ACS number 73

ACSLS server 73

adding alternate media server names 41, 76

administering access to Vault 218

advanced duplication 100

to avoid sending data over the network 55

All Media Inventory report 210

alternate media server names

adding 41, 76

Alternate Media Server Names tab 76

alternate read server

to avoid sending data over the network 54

Alternate Read Server setting 102, 109

Any Available storage unit setting 49, 50, 51

assigning multiple retentions with one profile 156

At Time of Eject setting (Suspend This Session’s

Media) 122

B

Backup Policies setting 93

Backups Started setting 94

best practices 37

bpdbjobs

changes for Vault 231

C

CAP. See media access port

catalog backup

Catalog Backup Schedule setting 117

reusing unexpired catalog backup media 169

Skip the Catalog Backup Step setting 117

Catalog Backup tab 114

changing off-site volume group name 221

changing off-site volume pool name 221

changing volume group name 221

changing volume pool name 221

choose backups

Backup Policies setting 93

Backups Started setting 94

Clients setting 94

disk pools 95

Media Servers setting 95

Schedules setting 95

Source Volume Group setting 96

Type Of Backups setting 96

Volume pools 97

Choose Backups tab 92

clearing the media description field 168

clearing the vault fields 147

Clients setting 94

clusters 21

shared disk 254, 258

Complete Inventory List for Vault. See All Media

Inventory report

concurrent copies

continue or fail 178

during advanced duplication 189

during basic duplication 185

during original backup 180

during Vault duplication 181

overview 177

through the NetBackup Catalog node 183

to avoid sending duplicates over the

network 53

configuration

Catalog Backup tab 114

Choose Backups tab 92

Duplication tab 98

Eject tab 118

methods 73

profile 90

Reports tab 124

robots 82

volume pools 63

Container Inventory Report 211

Containers of Many Media setting 85

continue

for concurrent copies 178

Copies setting 106, 110

copy

264

primary backup 99

copying a profile 220

creating

a profile 88

a vault 83

a vault policy 131

critical policies 116

Customer ID setting 85

D

debug logs 238

deferred reports 126

Deferred setting (Eject Mode) 122

Destination Storage Unit setting 105, 108, 111

Destination Volume Pool setting 105, 108, 112

Detailed Distribution List for Vault 203

Directory structure 253

directory structure 253

disaster recovery

definition 242

definition of disaster recovery plan 243

developing a disaster recovery plan 244

preparing for disaster 241

priorities 243

testing a disaster recovery plan 245

disk staging 39

Distribution List for Vault 202, 207

duplicate images 15

duplication

advanced 100

Alternate Read Server setting 102, 109

basic 99

Copies setting 106, 110

Destination Storage Unit setting 105, 108, 111

Destination Volume Pool setting 105, 108, 112

Expire Original Disk Backup Images

setting 103

Fail Copies setting 107, 110

increase throughput 56

Multiple Copies dialog 106

Multiple Copies setting 104

multiplexed 182

Number Of Read Drives setting 104, 110

Number Of Write Drives setting 105, 108, 112

Preserve Multiplexing setting 104

Primary Copy setting 103, 107, 111

Retention Level setting 105

Retention setting 108, 111

Source Backup Server setting 109, 110

Source Backups Reside On setting 105, 111

through the NetBackup Catalog node 183

when possible 182

Duplication tab 98

duplication throughput

configuring for multiple drives 56

multiple-drive scenario 57

E

eject

consolidating ejects 146

Eject Mode setting 122

Suspend Media On Which Backups Were

Written setting 123

Eject Mode settings 122

Eject tab 118

eject.list file 140

ejected tapes returned to robot 238

ejecting partial images

use suspend to avoid 42

e-mail

notifying a tape operator when eject

begins 166

error codes 234

extended 138

EXIT status 234

Expire Original Disk Backup Images setting 103

extended error codes 138

F

fail

for concurrent copies 178

Fail Copies setting 107, 110

files and directories 253

First Off-Site Slot ID setting 86

Full Inventory List for Vault. See Off-site Inventory

report

G

General tab 74

I

images

duplicate 15

original 15

primary backup 99

Immediate Eject setting 122

265

immediate reports 126

Immediate setting (Eject Mode) 122

Immediately setting (Suspend This Session’s

Media) 122

Inline Tape Copy

during advanced duplication 189

during basic duplication 185

Inline Tape Copy. See concurrent copies

installation

on UNIX systems 27

on Windows systems 34

prerequisites for a UNIX system 27

prerequisites for a Windows systems 34

Inventory List for Vault. See Vault Inventory report

Iron Mountain Electronic Format report 215

L

license key

adding on Windows systems 34

load balancing

by duplicating daily and ejecting weekly 52

profiles for both originals and duplicates 52

log files

debug logs 238

set duration 239

vault session 222

LSM number 73

M

MAP. See media access port

master server

host name of 72

media access port

capacity 73

number 73

to use for eject 86

media description field

clearing 168

media missing in robot 234

media server names 72

adding alternate 41, 76

Media Servers setting 95

menu user interface

bpdbjobs 231

changes in vmadm 227

overview 225

Vault Administration Interface 225

Vault Oerator Menu Interface 226

vltadm 225

vltopmenu 226

Monitoring a vault session 136

moving a vault to different robot 221

multiple copies

overview 177

See Also concurrent copies

Multiple Copies dialog 106

Multiple Copies setting 104

multiple retention mappings 156

multiple volume groups 41

multiplexed duplication 182

N

network

avoid sending duplicates over the network 53

New Profile dialog 90

New Vault dialog 84

New Vault Robot dialog 82

notify scripts

for a specific profile 168

for a specific robot 167

for a specific vault 168

order of execution 168

using 166

vlt_ejectlist_notify 167

vlt_end_notify 167

vlt_endeject_notify 167

vlt_start_notify 166

vlt_starteject_notify 167

notifying a tape operator when eject begins 166

Number Of Read Drives setting 104, 110

Number Of Write Drives setting 105, 108, 112

O

Off-site Inventory report 209

off-site volume group 86

renaming 221

Off-Site Volume Group setting 86

off-site volume pool 63

renaming 221

Off-Site Volume Pools setting 123

Off-site Volume Pools windows (Eject tab) 123

organizing reports by profile 60

organizing reports by robot 59

organizing reports by vault 60

original images 15

266

P

partial backups

use suspend to avoid vaulting 42

Picking List for Robot 201

Picking List for Vault 206

policy 131

configuration information 132

names 132

NetBackup policy for Vault 130

schedule names 132

preferred vaulting strategies 38

Preserve Multiplexing setting 104

preview media to be ejected 141

preview vault session 135

preview.list file 135

primary backup copy 99

primary backup image 99

Primary Copy setting 103, 107, 111

printing

troubleshooting problems 233

profile

configuring 90

copying a 220

creating 88

notify script for a specific 168

organizing reports by 60

overlap time window 40

printing information 220

Profile dialog 89

profiles

for both originals and duplicates 52

R

recovering backup images 171

recovery

keep primary copy on site 45

match volume pools to usage 45

of damaged media 171

preparing for efficient 44

revault unexpired media 47

use precise naming conventions 45

vault NetBackup catalogs 44

Recovery Report for Vault 212

renaming off-site volume group 221

renaming off-site volume pool 221

renaming volume group 221

renaming volume pool 221

reports

All Media Inventory 210

Complete Inventory List for Vault. See All

Media Inventory report

consolidating reports 198

Container Inventory Report 211

deferred 126

Detailed Distribution List for Vault 203

Distribution List for Robot 207

Distribution List for Vault 202

Full Inventory List for Vault. See Off-site

Inventory report

immediate 126

inventory 208

Inventory List for Vault. See Vault Inventory

report

Iron Mountain Electronic Format 215

Lost Media Report 60, 213

Off-site Inventory 209

organizing by profile 60

organizing by robot 59

organizing by vault 60

Picking List for Robot 201

Picking List for Vault 206

printing 195

Recovery Report for Vault 212

Summary Distribution List for Vault 204

types of 201

Vault Inventory report 208

Reports tab 80, 124

resource contention

avoid by robot usage 47

avoiding 47

load balancing 52

sharing resources with backup jobs 51

specifying different volume pools for source

and destination 53

use disk staging to avoid 39

vault original backups to avoid 39

when the read drive is not in the vault robot 51

when two processes try to use the same

drive 47

resuming a vault session 136

Retention Level setting 105, 108, 111

Retention level setting 95

Retention Mappings tab 79

retention period based on copy one retention

period 156

revault media 160

robot

267

configuring for vault 82

control host 83


number 83


properties 73, 83

types of 72

Robot Name setting 83

Robot Number setting 83

Robot Type setting 83

robotic volume group 41

Robotic Volume Group setting 86

running multiple sessions simultaneously 134

S

Schedules setting 95

scratch volume pools 59

server name group 76

session files

setting the duration of 223

setting the duration of session files 223

Skip the Catalog Backup Step setting 117

Skip the Eject Step setting 123

Slot ID 86

Slots for Individual Media setting 86

Source Backup Server setting 109, 110

Source Backups Reside On setting 105, 111

source volume group 49, 50

Source Volume Group setting 96

status codes 234

storage unit

Any Available setting 49, 50, 51

name of 72

number of drives in 72

Summary Distribution List for Vault 204

supported clusters 21

supported robots 21

supported systems 21

suspend

Suspend Media On Which Backups Were

Written setting 42

Suspend Option setting 42

use suspend to avoid partial backups 42

Suspend Media for the Next Session setting 123

Suspend Media on Which Backups Were Written

setting 123

Suspend Option setting 123

Suspend This Session’s Media setting 123

T

time window

overlapping 40

troubleshooting

bad or missing duplicate media 235

drive or robot offline 236

ejected tapes returned to robot 238

ejecting tapes while in use 237

error codes 234

logs 240

media missing in robot 234

no duplicate progress message 236

printing problems 233

Types Of Backups setting 96

U

unassigning catalog backup media 169

uninstall Vault

from UNIX systems 31

UNIX files and directories 253

V

Vault

accessing 14

vault

clearing the Vault fields 147

creating a 83

moving to a different robot 221

name 87


only the intended backups 42


original backups 39

paradigm 15, 37

policy 130

printing vault information 220

vendor 87

Vault Administration Interface 225

Vault dialog 84

Vault Inventory report 208

Vault Management Properties dialog

Alternate Media Server Names tab 76

General tab 74

Reports tab 80

Retention Mappings tab 79

Vault Name setting 87

Vault Operator Menu Interface 226

vault original backups 39

268

vault session

previewing 135

resuming 136

running 130

running multiple sessions simultaneously 134

setting the duration of session files 223

stopping 135

Vault Vendor setting 87

vaulting

containers 85

defined 15

original backups in a 24x7 environment 43

paradigm 15, 37

preferred strategies 38

VSM media 163

Veritas Storage Migrator (VSM) 163

vltoffsitemedia command

adding an expiration date 165

assigning slot number 159

changing Vault attributes 162

vmadm

changes for Vault 227

special actions menu 228

volume configuration 228

volume group

configuration 86

renaming 221

robotic 86

source 96

volume pool

configuration 63

destination 105, 108, 112

for backup media that remains on site 64

for catalog media 64

match to data usage 45

naming conventions 45

off-site 63

overview 63

renaming 221

use scratch volume pools 59

Volume pools

specifying different source and destination 53

VSM 163

W

Windows files and directories 257

Windows systems

delicensing Vault 35

working files

setting the duration of 223

NetBackup Vault Administrator’s Guide - Veritas · 2016. 7. 19. · 12308354 Veritas NetBackup...

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